Hey, It Can Happen
by BearfootTruck
Summary: Stuck in a dead-end job with no one to comfort him, Gaara only wants to get a better job and a woman. However, that's easier said than done...or is it? Rated M for language, minor violence and sexual content. Happy Valentine's Day! Fem!Naruto
1. Chatting With Babes

**A/N: Before we begin, I would like to apologize for being sporadic about updating "The Best Day of His Life". I've been running around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to get some real life stuff done. I promise I'll have it updated soon, though.**

**Anyways, if you're like me and you're fed up with the whole "romance" thing, but haven't given up hope on finding that special someone, then this story is for you. Read on!**

* * *

Gaara was about to resign like Richard Nixon. As if his Wednesday at Michael's arts and crafts wasn't going slow enough, somebody had taken packages of Testors glue, thrown them on the floor in the model building aisle and stomped on them, thereby spilling their contents. He vowed to kick the culprit's ass once he was done picking up the damaged products and mopping the floor.

"Hey Gaara, we need somebody at Register One," said Jim Fresnel, one of the store managers.

"I'll do it once I get this mess cleaned up."

"Just hand the stuff to me; I'll take care of it."

"As you wish…_Jim_."

Reluctantly, Gaara handed the mop and the plastic bag of glue to Jim and walked quickly to Register One. By this time, a significant line had formed, which Gaara considered unusual being that the holiday season had passed. He did not, however, consider it unusual that he was the only male cashier of the bunch, nor did he particularly care. After all, most – if not all – people were equally pathetic in his eyes. Even so, he kept his chin up and made eye contact with the nearest available customer.

"I can help you over here, Miss," said Gaara.

The petite brunette he'd made eye contact with approached his register.

"Hi," said Gaara.

"Hey there!" The brunette emptied the contents of her shopping basket onto the counter. Said contents included an MPC Pontiac _Knight Rider_ model kit, a tube of glue and some paints. While ringing up the items, Gaara sniffed as carefully as he could, trying to determine if she was the culprit. However, he couldn't detect any glue smell on her.

"Are you a rewards member?" asked Gaara.

"I am." The brunette flashed her rewards card, which Gaara scanned. Then, the transaction came and passed without fuss.

"Thank you," said Gaara. "Have a nice day." (_And good riddance._)

* * *

During his lunch break, Gaara wolfed down the ox tongue sandwich he'd prepared this morning. Personally, he preferred warm ox tongue, but cold would do as well.

"Hey Gaara, how's your day going?" asked Matsuri, one of his fellow employees, one of his few friends in life, and also one of the few people who could stand the smell of ox tongue.

"Things were acceptable until that _idiot_ messed around with the glue."

"How?"

"Apparently, the culprit stomped on a bunch of glue containers while nobody was looking."

"Oh, that's terrible!"  
"What's worse is that I got sent to ring out some customers while cleaning up that goddamn mess. How's your day going?"

"Well, I didn't have to put up with anything like you put up with, but there was this one guy who was being kinda rude."

"How so?"

"He wanted to know what color panties I had on today."

Gaara clenched a fist under the table. "Matsuri, if he gives you _any_ more trouble, just let me know, OK?"

Matsuri smiled. "I will!"

"And don't lose that smile of yours."

"I won't!"

Though Gaara considered many people equally worthless, there was just something about Matsuri's smile that he couldn't resist. Granted, she already had a boyfriend, but she still meant something to him.

* * *

The rest of Gaara's workday went by without a hitch. When it was over, he hopped into his car – a black 1970 Pontiac GTO – and drove back to his home in Glocester, Rhode Island, only twenty minutes away from the town of Smithfield, where Michael's was. He lived in a two-story house not far from the Ponaganset Reservoir. Also in the driveway was a copper 1975 Ford LTD Landau. After killing his GTO's engine, Gaara walked into the house, where he saw his brother Kankuro sitting at the dinner table eating a Salisbury Steak.

"Nice job staying home and eating the friggin' steak, Kankuro," said Gaara.

Kankuro put down his fork. "Gaara, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day."

"Not to mention sucking our parents' inheritance dry."

"And don't crap all over my future career as an MMA fighter, either."

Gaara crossed his arms. "What career?"

"I'm working on it, OK!?"

"Hey, I'm working on my law enforcement career, too, but you don't see me not keeping busy all the time."

"Oh yeah, and who's the one who keeps the joint clean, eh?"

Gaara snorted angrily. "Point taken."

"Besides, I don't see you having a _girlfriend_, either."

"Yeah, well that's going to change. Trust me." Gaara smiled.

* * *

Later on in the day, Gaara put on fresh clothes plus his favorite Schott 650 leather jacket and drove down to Providence, the biggest city in the littlest state. Here, he was to meet with members of the Rhode Island Anime Collective, one of the state's few – if not the only – anime clubs. Tonight, the group was going to see the movie _Nabari no Ou: Checkmate_, based off a rather obscure series that Gaara had introduced to the group. After retrieving his parking pass, Gaara parked his GTO and hoofed it all the way to the Providence Place Cinema, located just above the food court.

"Hi, I'm here to pick up my ticket." Gaara flashed his credit card to one of the ticket sellers.

"OK." The ticket seller took Gaara's credit card and scanned it. Since the machine was satisfied, it spat out the ticket he'd purchased online. She then handed the ticket to Gaara. "Enjoy the show."

"Thank you."

Gaara handed his ticket to the ticket taker, who returned his stub. After being gouged for a medium popcorn and Coke, he headed for Theater 5, where the movie was to be playing. The directions on the RIAC's Meetup page said to wait outside the room, but when Gaara got there, he saw a slightly taller man in a black suit waiting just outside the door. Annoyed, but nevertheless not wanting any trouble, Gaara headed inside the theater and picked a seat in one of the upper rows that wasn't as full. He prayed that no one would take the seats near him. As more people filed in, he grew even more annoyed.

(_Why the hell was that attendant there anyways?_) thought Gaara. (_Now they'll never find me!_)

While Gaara was ensconced in thought, a young man attempted to take the seat next to him.

"_Excuse me_," said Gaara, "but are you with the Anime Collective?"

"No," said the man.

"Then bug off. This seat is taken."

"Sure thing."

The young man vacated the seat, leaving Gaara to nosh on his popcorn. Gaara thought he heard the other man say "what an asshole" as he attempted to locate another seat. Then, four other people showed up and attempted to seat themselves near Gaara.

"_Hi there_," said Gaara, "None of you are…"

Gaara paused when he recognized one of the people: a young woman with short, bobbed black hair, who was wearing a hot pink shearling jacket and large horn-rimmed glasses.

"Ah, hello there, Clarissa!" Gaara smiled. "How's it going?"

"Okay, I guess," said Clarissa Stapleton, the leader of the RIAC. "How about you?"

"I'm doing all right."

"Why didn't you wait outside the theater?"

"I didn't want any trouble with the attendant. Sorry if I confused you."

"No, that's OK."

Gaara pointed at another young woman with a _Sailor Moon_ hoodie. "I recognize you from before, but I don't recognize the others…"

"I'm Don," said a black guy in a UA tracksuit. "This is my friend, Keith."

"Nice to meet you!" said Gaara.

"Nice to meet ya, too!" said Keith, a white guy who was also wearing a UA tracksuit.

Shortly after, the lights dimmed, and after a few previews, the movie began in earnest. Gaara couldn't help but be sucked in by the movie, but he also had to resist the temptation to break the necks of the wayward moviegoers who were dicking around on their cell phones. Overall, they didn't detract from the movie too much, though. When the end credits rolled and the lights came back on, Gaara clapped his heart out.

(_That was a welcome break from the monotony of my life!_) thought Gaara. (_Now for the real coup de grace…_)

Everyone filed out of the theater in an orderly fashion.

"So, what did we think of the movie?" asked Wendy, the woman in the _Sailor Moon_ hoodie.

"It kinda dragged near the beginning," said Keith, "but when it got goin', it got _goin'_!" He did a fist pump. "WHOO!"

"Yeah, what my man said!" said Don.

"Gaara, what did you think?" asked Clarissa.

Gaara stroked his chin. "Well, if you ask me, I thought it was quite Wellesian in its execution."

"What's that mean?"

"Ever heard of Orson Welles?"

Clarissa shook her head slightly. "Nah, I don't think so…"

"You haven't? Why, he's only one of the greatest thespians-slash-auteurs ever! I mean, he was not of an age, but for all time!"

"What did he do?"

"Let's see…he did a radio adaptation of _War of the Worlds_, and then he did films such as _Citizen Kane_, _Othello_ and _Touch of Evil_. He was also a spokesperson for Paul Masson wine."

Clarissa blinked slowly. "Really? Wow!"

By now, Wendy, Don and Keith had gone their own ways, leaving just Gaara and Clarissa.

"Yes," said Gaara. "Does the phrase 'we will sell no wine before its time' ring any bells?"

"No, I don't think so…" said Clarissa.

"That's OK. Not everyone has to know everything from the get-go. Otherwise, what would be the fun? Speaking of fun, I had plenty of it tonight. Thank you for organizing this, Clarissa!"

"You're welcome, Gaara!"

"By the way, I was wondering if you'd like to grab a cup of coffee with me this weekend."

"Thanks, but I already have a boyfriend."

At this point, Gaara felt his heart sink like the _Titanic_…no, the _Lusitania_. In spite of the rejection, he kept his chin up and a smile on his face.

"Regardless, I wish you two well. Have a good night!"

"You too!"

After paying for his parking pass at one of the kiosks, Gaara left his smile behind as he walked to his GTO and got in.

"Son of a BITCH!"

Gaara pounded on the steering wheel when he said 'bitch'. After this little outburst, he started the car and drove back home.

* * *

When Gaara got back home, he entered as quietly as he could. He knew that Kankuro was asleep at this hour. In order to take his mind off of the painful rejection, Gaara logged into OKCupid. He then pored through the multitude of women that were available, but found himself largely dissatisfied as a good chunk of them had an "Enemy" rating of more than 20%. Nevertheless, he looked over the ones he found intriguing, liked them and messaged them. Granted, he could count them on both hands, but he figured it was good enough. Logging into PlentyOfFish rendered him similarly dismal results.

Once Gaara felt as though he'd had his fill, he decided to apply for a new job on Indeed. What really frustrated him about his job search was that aside from Criminal Justice, he hadn't a clue as to what he wanted to do. He was, however, intrigued by the field of manufacturing, so he decided to apply to whatever he could. Again, he found himself stymied as many of the jobs required X amount of experience, which made him wonder how he was even supposed to get his foot in the door. However, he applied to what he could, brushed and flossed before collapsing in his bed.

(_What a day…_)

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	2. Rejected

Another snowy day, another dollar at Michael's. Nothing especially exciting happened to Gaara today. In the break room, he had his usual chat with Matsuri.

"How's it going?" asked Matsuri.

"Okay, I suppose."

"That's _all_?"

"Yep, that's all."

"Did you do anything fun last night?"

"I went out to a movie with friends."

"Aw cool! What movie?"

"It's the new _Nabari no Ou_ movie. I don't know if…"

Matsuri nearly jumped out of her seat as her eyes widened. "Wait…did you say _NABARI NO OU_!?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Ohmigosh, that is _only_ one of my favorite anime series of all time! I've been waiting to see that movie for like, _forever_!"

Gaara smiled. "You should definitely see it!"

"Oh, I am definitely gonna ask my boyfriend to take me to see it!"

Gaara tried his best not to cringe when he heard the word "boyfriend", which only reminded him of last night's fiasco. Nevertheless, as much as he enjoyed Matsuri's company, he respected her right to love whoever she wanted.

"I'm sure he'll enjoy it too!" said Gaara. "Is he an anime fan?"

"Well, not really," replied Matsuri. "I mean, he does watch _Attack on Titan_, and he was really big into _Pokémon_ and _Dragon Ball_, but that's about it."

"If that's the case, I highly recommend that he binge-watch the show first, otherwise he won't enjoy the movie as much."

"OK, I'll let him know!"

* * *

As Gaara was leaving, he hummed "Die By the Sword" to himself.

"Hey!"

Gaara kept walking.

"Hey, Gaara!"

Gaara turned around and saw Matsuri walking towards him quickly.

"Yes?" said Gaara.

"I just wanted to wish you a good day!" said Matsuri.

"Oh, thank you. Have a good day!"

Gaara waved at Matsuri and attempted to proceed to his GTO when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to face Matsuri, who was smiling.

"Come on, bring it on in!" said Matsuri.

Not wanting to disappoint her, Gaara approached her and took in her hug. He didn't stop to think about her boyfriend; he just enjoyed how good the hug felt and how warm it made him feel in the cold Rhode Island winter. A few seconds later, they let go.

"Thank you again!" Gaara smiled.

Matsuri giggled. "You're always welcome!"

* * *

Seeing as how he had a little time after work, Gaara drove to Planet Fitness, located in the nearby Apple Valley Mall. Going to the gym didn't help with his dislike of strangers, but he was fortunate in that people rarely bothered him here. After scanning his card at the front desk, Gaara changed into a light gray T-shirt and dark green athletic shorts before putting his stuff in one of the lockers. Now ready to rock, Gaara started off with the lat pulldown machine, managing fifty reps at the 200-pound setting. He cracked an evil smirk after he was finished with it.

(_Yes, feel my power!_)

On his way to the shoulder press machine, a young lady running on one of the treadmills caught Gaara's attention. Sure, the long, curly blonde hair tied into a ponytail was interesting, especially considering that it appeared to be natural rather than dyed. What really grabbed him, though, was her attire: a blue sports bra and black running shorts with white stripes, plus a pair of New Balance running shoes. This wasn't the first time that Gaara had seen a woman in a sports bra at this gym, but it was the first time he'd seen one that wasn't skinny as a rail. No, it was obvious that this young woman had curves and wanted the world to know. After looking her over, Gaara squinched his eyes and shook his head. He thought better of trying to chat her up. Though cool and strong externally, he feared being shot down again, so he put on his usual stone face and completed the rest of his exercises with no issues.

In one of the showers, Gaara had a little problem: he felt aroused. This wasn't the first time he'd ever felt this way while taking a warm shower, but considering he couldn't get that blonde lady out of his mind, it was somewhat disconcerting. He desperately wanted to make the problem go away, even if that meant using his imagination, but he did his best to think better of it.

(_Damn it, Gaara, you're better than this,_) he thought. (_Besides, you should be looking online for more reliable women._)

Thankfully, he managed to leave the shower without letting the public know what was really on his mind. He did his best to stay focused on the door, but his eyes briefly darted to the blonde woman again.

(_I wonder: how long has she been running for?_)

* * *

Back home, Gaara saw Kankuro playing _PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds_ in his room on his PC.

"This doesn't look like MMA training to me," said Gaara.

"Hey, cut it out!" Kankuro kept his focus on the game. "Everybody needs a break every now and then!"

Suddenly, Kankuro lost because some guy in a UAZ-469 ran him over. He pounded on the keyboard like an angry German kid.

"NOW LOOK AT WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!"

"That was your own damn fault." Gaara closed the door and left Kankuro to his Mountain Dew-fueled rage.

Back in his own room, Gaara fired up his computer and immediately checked his E-mail. He found one from Indeed, in regards to his application for National Extruders Inc., a local plastics company. He opened it, and this is what it read:

"Dear Gaara:

Thank you for your interest in our company. However, we have chosen to move forward with other candidates at this time. We wish you the best of luck.

-Regards,

Geoff Dewey, CEO."

Gaara furrowed his brow at the E-mail. A message from POF was no better:

"tl;dr"

Rage consumed Gaara so intensely that he took his keyboard and did a harsher number on it than Kankuro could ever have done. He even tore it in half like a phonebook. After breathing heavily for a moment, he collapsed into the fetal position and let the tears flow. He knew he deserved a better life, so why was it so hard to attain? Was it because of something he did in the past? Did God really hate him that much? He uttered the phrase "oh God" a few times before finally passing out from exhaustion.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	3. Resignation

"Hey Gaara!"

Gaara awoke to a strange tapping sensation. As it turned out, Kankuro was giving him a slight kick.

"Urgh…I'm not awake…Kankuro…"

"But don't you have work today?"

"I may not…be awake…but I know damn well…when I'm not scheduled to…work…"

Kankuro backed away. "Well OK, forgive me for my concern…"

Kankuro left. Nevertheless, he retained enough concern for Gaara that he returned with Gaara's favorite mug, which said "GOOD MORNING MY ASS" on it, and set it down next to Gaara, who was still curled up in the fetal position. Taking in the distinct smell of black coffee, Gaara put in the strength to sit up and cradled the mug in his hands.

"You know," said Gaara, "for all of your shortcomings, I appreciate that you know the way I like my coffee."

Kankuro smiled. "You're welcome!"

* * *

After drinking his coffee and having a light breakfast, Gaara freshened up.

"Hey Kankuro, I'm going out. Do you need anything?"

"Yeah, we're all outta Salisbury Steaks!" said Kankuro. "Also, we need more Mountain Dew!"

Gaara briefly glared at Kankuro before heading on out.

* * *

Gaara headed to Staples first in order to get a new keyboard. It didn't matter to him what he got so long as it just did its job.

"Hey Gaara, what's up?" said a long-haired brunette who worked at the store.

"Not much, Yukata," replied Gaara. "I just came in to buy a new keyboard."

"I can help you get a good one."

"I'm sure whatever you pick will be good enough. I don't need anything fancy."

"OK!"

And so, Yukata led Gaara over to a mid-range Logitech keyboard.

"That'll do," said Gaara. "Thank you."

Yukata smiled. "You're welcome! Have a good day!"

"You too!"

* * *

After buying the keyboard, Gaara headed down to Dino's Park 'N Shop, located in Glocester on Route 44. In operation since 1957, Dino's was Gaara's favorite place to shop because even though they didn't carry every product under the sun, it had a nice hometown feel to it and caused him less anxiety than stores such as Stop & Shop. Also, pretty much nobody bothered him unless he felt like it. Today was no different. He hummed "No Remorse" on his way to the checkout.

"Excuse me…"

Gaara elected to keep on pushing his carriage when he heard the female voice address him.

"Excuse me!"

Gaara paused briefly, but kept going. It wasn't that he had a "woman filter"; he just had little desire to interact with a random stranger in a small-town grocery store.

"Hey boy, I'm talking to you!"

Gaara stopped when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He then turned around.

"_What_ do you…"

Gaara froze in mid-sentence when he saw who was addressing him, and in spite of not having seen her whisker-marked face before, he immediately recognized the blonde woman from the gym yesterday. Her blue eyes complemented her hair, which now that he had a closer look at it, Gaara could recognize as her natural color. What he found ironic was that although she had that big, long, curly eighties-style hair, her brown cashmere coat screamed "SEVENTIES!" The black leggings and brown Dehner patrol boots rounded off her look nicely in Gaara's opinion.

"…want?"

Now suffering from "Vaseline vision", Gaara finished off his sentence flatter than a tire.

"Where did you get those green bananas?" asked the woman.

Gaara pointed his thumb in the direction of the produce aisle. "Back where all the other damn bananas are."

Gaara kept pushing his carriage, but the woman got in his way, much to his annoyance.

"But I looked _everywhere_ and I couldn't find any!" The woman pouted. "Besides, yellow bananas are no fun!"

Gaara sighed. "All right, if it matters to you THAT much, you can take my friggin' bananas…"

"Great!" The woman smiled, and without waiting, she took Gaara's bananas.

"Now, is there _anything_ else I can help you with?"

"Nah, I'm good for now! Thank you, uh…"

"My name is Gaara. What's your name?"

"I'm Naruka…Naruka Uzumaki!"

Gaara faked a smile. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too!"

Naruka took Gaara's right hand and shook it with both of hers. Gaara kept his mouth shut as he marvelled at how soft her hands were.

"Well, see you around!" Naruka waved at Gaara.

"Bye!" Gaara waved at Naruka as she headed off.

Meanwhile, Gaara turned around and went to get another bunch of bananas. He didn't pay attention to anything else during this time.

"Wait, I forgot…!"

Gaara recognized Naruka's voice, stopped and turned around.

"What now?" said Gaara.

"You're _cute_."

Naruka winked at Gaara. He tried to maintain his usual, soulless stone face, but being called "cute" was way out of the ordinary for him. By his own account, he looked more like an assassin for a Yakuza gang. How was that even cute? Furthermore, the way she put the emphasis on the word "cute" was a bit much for him to process.

"Thank you," said Gaara.

Naruka laughed and pointed at Gaara. "Aw look, you're blushing!"

It was only at this moment that Gaara felt the unbridled warmth in his face. He growled, turned away and made his way to the checkout area.

* * *

On the way home, Gaara blasted an Annihilator tape to keep himself together. Even the heavy riffs of "Alison Hell" couldn't keep Naruka out of his mind. By the time he was home, Gaara was still blushing. He rushed to the kitchen and worked to put away the groceries as quickly as possible before Kankuro saw him.

"Hey, welcome back, Gaara!"

Gaara kept himself turned away from Kankuro. "Thanks."

"Hey, why so shy all of a sudden?"

"Mind your own business, Kankuro."

"Oh, you wanna go, brother!? FINE!"

Kankuro laid a hand on Gaara's shoulder, which incited rage from the latter. Being touched by a strange woman was one thing, but Gaara knew that Kankuro was deliberately breaking the "don't touch the leather" rule, so he grabbed Kankuro's hand and squeezed as hard as he could. Kankuro grimaced as he attempted not to scream. Not wanting to break his brother's hand, Gaara let go a moment later.

"All right, I'm SORRY!" yelled Kankuro. "Is that what you wanna hear?"

"Hmph."

Gaara decamped to his room, where he collapsed in his swivel chair. He didn't particularly feel like doing anything at the moment. After all, what was the point of looking for a new job or a lady if it was going to lead to disappointment? Sure, Naruka said he was cute, but as attractive as he thought she was, he didn't think he could handle her forthright personality. Instead, he fired up _My Summer Car_ and attempted to blow off steam by finding the Ruscko and punching the wasps that inhabited it. It only led to his character dying, but he didn't give a rat's ass. As long as it gave him something to keep his mind off of Naruka, he wasn't going to question it.

When night fell, Gaara took a shower, freshened up and collapsed in his bed. He had a little trouble falling to sleep because of one thing…

(_Naruka…where did she come from…and why does she think I'm cute? No other women have ever said anything like that to my face…_)

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	4. Not Her Again

In spite of the whole "Naruka" thing, Gaara got a half-decent night's sleep and managed to get to work on time. His usual routine was going smoothly…that is, until he got called to Register Two. He wondered how and why it got busy the way it did sometimes. He managed to avoid throttling a man and a woman just for being a loving couple. Without hesitation, he made eye contact with the next customer.

"I can help you over…" (_Oh no…_)

Gaara cut himself off when he discovered who his next customer was.

"Gaara, I had no idea you worked here!" said Naruka.

(_She remembered my name,_) thought Gaara. (_I'm impressed._) "Yes, unfortunately I do. What do you do to survive?"

"Nothing!"

Gaara glared at Naruka so intently that he almost failed to notice the contents of her shopping basket being emptied onto the counter. Said contents included an AMT _Jack Reacher_ Chevelle SS, plus a tube of glue and some paints. When he finally stopped giving her the death stare, he scanned her items and bagged them.

"Are you a…"

"Believe it!"

Naruka whipped out a rewards card from her wallet, which had the same spiral leaf design that her green purse had. Disturbed by the speed and precision with which she interrupted him, Gaara nevertheless scanned her card. When it came time to pay, that was the thing that aroused his suspicion: she paid for her items with an American Express Centurion Card.

(_OK, I'm done,_) thought Gaara. In spite of his disbelief, the card reader approved Naruka's card, so he had no choice but to hand over her receipt.

"Have a nice day," said Gaara.

"Gotcha! See you later!" Naruka waved and winked at Gaara.

* * *

On his break, Gaara had his usual chat with Matsuri.

"You'll never believe who I had for a customer," said Gaara.

"Who?" asked Matsuri.

Gaara crossed his arms. "This blonde woman whom I met at a grocery store yesterday came in here and had the nerve to pay for her model kit and supplies with one of those American Express black cards."

"So? Quite a few people have those nowadays."

"Well, I asked her what she did for a living and you know what she said?"

"What?"

"'Nothing'! Absolutely NOTHING!"

"Gaara, you might not know her whole story. This is America; plenty of people live well and don't have to work."

Gaara held his breath as he tried not to rant about the disparity between him working and not earning what he felt he deserved while others coasted through life with the whole world in their hands.

"Gaara, stop that!" cried Matsuri. "You're going to hurt yourself!"

Gaara exhaled. "I don't care, Matsuri. There is NO WAY in HELL that that woman has no job and a card like that."

Gaara took another deep breath and continued to hold it.

"Look, I understand if you're mad, but there are healthier ways to express anger." Matsuri pulled out a strange cube. "Here, try my Fidget Cube."

Gaara exhaled, took the Fidget Cube from Matsuri and tried to squeeze as hard as he could. Matsuri tried taking the cube from him.

"Don't break it!" said Matsuri.

"I wasn't _trying_ to break it," said Gaara. "I was _just_ trying to express anger in a healthy and productive way."

Matsuri sighed. Nevertheless, she knew exactly what Gaara needed, so she got up from her seat and hugged him from behind.

"Now, do you promise not to break my stuff?" asked Matsuri.

Gaara smiled. "Of course!"

Matsuri returned the smile. "See? I knew you were a reasonable man."

* * *

When he got back home, Gaara went to see Kankuro in the dining room.

"Kankuro, I'm sorry about yesterday."

"Mm-hmm." Kankuro took another bite of his Salisbury Steak.

"No really, I am. I just ran into some trouble at the grocery store yesterday, and I didn't mean to take it out on you."

"Hey, don't worry about it, man! I understand if you're having girl troubles!"

Gaara crossed his arms. "_All right_, who said it involved a woman?"

"Well, I kinda figured the way you were avoiding looking at me and all…"

"Jeez, give me a break."

"Come on, Gaara! I know when you're in love!"

"LOVE!? Lord above! Now you're trying to trick me with love!"

Kankuro laughed. "Gotcha!"

"Get THIS!"

Gaara grabbed Kankuro's steak knife and held it up to his throat, but stopped short of actually slitting it.

"I could've killed you," said Gaara. "Don't push it. Don't push it or I'll give you a war you won't believe. Let it go. Let. It. Go."

Gaara retracted the knife and slowly handed it back to a now-trembling Kankuro.

* * *

In his room, Gaara sat in regret of all the bad things he'd done to Kankuro recently. He considered calling a counselor, but decided against it, feeling that his troubles would consume him by the time he was able to see the counselor. Then, he heard somebody knocking.

"Come in."

Kankuro entered the room.

"Look man," said Kankuro, "I understand if you're angry, but you don't have to take it out on _me_!"

"You're right," said Gaara. "I don't have to take it out on you. Problem is, who else will I take it out on?"

"You do realize that we have a punching bag in the basement, right?"

Gaara contemplated Kankuro's words for a few seconds.

"Do excuse me." Gaara got up from his seat and went into the basement.

* * *

Though Kankuro had cleaned it recently, the basement still had a musty smell typical of what one would imagine a basement to smell like. Down here, Gaara took off his shirt, wrapped his hands in sports tape and had at it with the punching bag, which was sitting on the floor. With every punch, Gaara could feel a warm and tingly feeling. Having been denied a chance to discharge his violent impulses in a way that only hand-to-hand combat could do, he got an evil smirk, albeit different from the one he got from weight training in that he bared his teeth.

"YES!" exclaimed Gaara. "Die! DIE!"

In the midst of his overly charged slugfest, Gaara got an unwelcome surprise when he saw Naruka's face manifest itself onto the punching bag. His eyes widened, he let out a scream of surprise and he stopped short of landing another blow. His smirk gone, he tried to control his breathing, but was largely unsuccessful, so he slumped down on one knee and stayed there until he was able to cool off. When he did, Gaara took off the sports tape, grabbed his shirt and went up to take a shower.

* * *

For the rest of the night, Gaara read a book on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to cool off. He fell asleep while reading the book. When he was deep into sleep, he had a strange dream: he was in a garden high up in the clouds, with lush green grass and the clearest, most drinkable water he'd ever seen.

"Hey there, boy!"

"N-Naruka?"

Gaara tilted his head when he saw Naruka dressed in a white strapless dress and wearing angel wings.

"I didn't die…did I?" asked Gaara.

Naruka giggled. "No, you're just in Super Fun Time Land! Believe it!"

"So who the hell are you supposed to be?"

"I'm your angel of desire! Come with me; we're gonna have SO much fun!"

Naruka took Gaara by the hand and led him through Super Fun Time Land. As they ran down the immaculate stone path, not once did he bother to question why she was even in his dreams. He'd heard so many theories about dreams and what they were supposed to mean, but in recent times, he'd come to the conclusion that dreams weren't supposed to mean anything; it was how they made one feel that really mattered. Eventually, they reached a statue that looked like Cupid, situated atop a marble pyramid of stairs.

"What's this?" asked Gaara.

"Why, it's ONLY the Shrine of Love, silly! Come on, we've got no time to waste!"

Naruka led Gaara up the stairs to the statue itself.

"Sit down, babe!" said Naruka.

Gaara sat down at the base of the statue.

"And here comes the _fun_ part!"

Naruka straddled Gaara and undid the belt on his pants. She then removed his pants and kissed him as she mounted him.

Gaara gasped as he suddenly awoke to a warm, sticky feeling in his underwear. He recognized what was going on, and it bothered him. How dare Naruka invade his dreams like that!? At the same time, he wanted to go back to sleep and see her again. Maybe the dream was really trying to tell him something. Then again, Gaara mused that maybe Naruka could damn herself to the depths of Hell.

(_I'll figure this out tomorrow…_)

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	5. Stalker

Gaara elected to call in sick for the day. He felt like an asshole for doing so considering that others had to pick up his slack. However, he gave it a three-pronged rationalization: 1. He had worked hard enough, 2. He hated the job anyways, and 3. He needed an excuse to avoid Naruka.

"So, what are you gonna do today?" asked Kankuro.

"I'm just keeping my ass at home, away from all those annoying bugbears."

"Anybody in particular annoying you?"

"Right now, I just don't want to deal with people. You should know this by now."

Kankuro nodded. "Right."

* * *

Gaara attempted to amuse himself, first by firing up his Nintendo 64 and playing _Blast Corps_. However, that got old quickly, so he switched to playing _BattleTanx_. That also got old, so he decided not to bother with the N64 and instead played _Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction_ on his Xbox. Again, Gaara found that he could only kill so many North Korean soldiers before he got bored. Instead of video games, Gaara decided to watch a movie. After poring through his DVD/Blu-ray collection, he decided to watch _Mr. Arkadin_. He managed to entertain himself with the movie, but when it was over, he found himself in the same damn rut.

(_Great, now what am I…wait a minute…when was the last time I checked the oil in my car?_)

Gaara threw on his leather jacket and shoes, and then went outside to check his GTO's oil. Sure enough, it was really low. Thus, he checked a nearby shed for some more oil. He only found one bottle, so he put in what he could and drove down to AutoZone in Johnston, twenty minutes east of Glocester. He got what he came for with no fuss and decided to have lunch at a nearby Burger King. After wolfing down a couple of Whoppers, Gaara drove to the Marian J. Mohr Public Library, the only public library in Johnston. He got out and got an unexpected surprise…

"Hey!" Naruka waved at Gaara and gave the flirtiest wink she could muster.

Gaara furrowed his brow. "Naruka, are you _stalking_ me!?"

"Nope!"

"You're a liar, you know that? You're a rotten, dirty liar!"

"Gaara, that's not a _nice_ thing to say to a young _woman_!"

Gaara began flailing his arms about. "I DON'T CARE! Ever since you introduced yourself at Dino's, you've been nothing but a goddamn thorn in my side! I don't know what the hell you even want from me, but the fact is, you're NOT going to get it!"

Naruka felt her smile beginning to waver, but she persisted.

"Babe, what are you talking about?" she asked.

"OH, DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME! First you take my bananas, then you have the audacity to pay for a model with a rich person's credit card when you clearly LEECH off the system, and apparently, you now think it's funny to blitzkrieg into my dreams!"

In spite of Gaara's rant bringing about fear within her, Naruka kept up her smile.

"You're funny!"

"'FUNNY' NOTHING! Just go away! I hate you!"

This time, Naruka stopped smiling. She gasped out of pure shock.

"_What_ did you just say!?" exclaimed Naruka.

"YOU HEARD ME! I HATE YOU!"

Naruka could take no more. She began tearing up, and in spite of her best attempts to hold herself together, she cried her eyes out and ran back to her car, a Hugger Orange 1970 Chevelle SS. Gaara watched in silence as she slammed the car door shut and peeled away from the library parking lot.

"Son, what the hell did that young lady ever do to ya?" asked an old man in a blue jacket.

Gaara growled. "What business is it of yours, old man!?"

"Back in my day, we didn't yell and cuss at women!"

"Know what I think of your ass? HERE!"

Gaara flipped off the old man and stomped his way back to his GTO while enduring shouts about how rude today's youngsters were.

* * *

Back home, Gaara slammed the front door shut as well as the door to his own room, which he slumped against. He knew he'd made a huge mistake, but at the moment, he was in no mood to fix it, nor was he in the mood to answer Kankuro's knocking. He gave into it soon enough, however.

"You know," said Kankuro, "you really should be careful with the noise. Other people are trying to nap here."

Gaara took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "_Sorry…brother_."

"OK, I can tell something's really bothering you this time. What is it?"

"If Temari still lived here, I would talk, but considering she's out in Colorado, I…"

Suddenly, Gaara heard "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" by Black Sabbath, which happened to be his ringtone. He then answered his phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Gaara!"

Gaara faked a smile. "Ah, hello, Temari! What's up?"

"I bought a round-trip ticket, so I'll be coming over next Saturday!"

"Ah, that's great! I can't wait to see you again!"

"Can't wait to see you too, little bro! Say, is Kankuro there?"

"He is. Do you wish to talk to him?"

"Well, duh!"

"Very well then." Gaara handed the phone to Kankuro.

"Hello?" said Kankuro.

"Hey Kankuro, what's up?" said Temari.

"Ah, you know, just living the dream!"

"That's nice! Is your MMA career taking off?"

"It's getting there!"

"Great! By the way, I told this to Gaara, but I might as well tell you: I got a round-trip ticket, so I'm coming over next Saturday!"

"Hey, that's awesome! I'll be looking forward to it!"

"Me too! Bye!"

"Bye!" Kankuro hung up and gave the phone back to Gaara, who closed the door cautiously.

Without another word, Gaara went over to his bed and curled up in the fetal position with his pillow. In spite of his general hatred for mankind, he lamented the fact that he pushed away somebody who was showing obvious signs of interest in him. What really hurt was that he worried that he might have goaded Naruka into killing herself. Granted, the idea did seem a bit farfetched, but for somebody who secretly suffered from feelings of anxiety and depression, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

"Naruka…" said Gaara, "…if you can hear me…I hope you can forgive me for how badly I've treated you…"

Gaara then closed his eyes and cried, hoping for the pain to go away.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	6. I'm Sorry

When Gaara finally awoke, he discovered that it was a few minutes past when he'd normally awaken. Not wanting to be late, he took a quick shower and dressed for work as best as he could. Thankfully, he made it on time. Nothing happened beyond the usual, unless one counted the fact that he continually worried about Naruka "beyond the usual". By the time Gaara took his break, Naruka had yet to show.

"Gaara, what's wrong?" asked Matsuri.

"Since when did I ever say something was wrong?"

"Come on, I can see it in your eyes!"

"It's really THAT obvious to you?"

"For God's sake, why do you have to be such a brick wall!?"

Gaara sighed. "Fine, I'll talk, but you have to keep this a secret, OK?"

"OK!"

Gaara leaned in a little closer to Matsuri and whispered: "I wasn't very sick, actually. I was just tired."

"Oh?"

"Also, remember the woman I saw here the day before yesterday?"

"Yes, I do."

"I saw her at the Mohr Library in Johnston yesterday. I accused her of stalking me and I…I…"

"Yes?"

"I blew up and told her I hated her."

Matsuri did her best not to shout out loud. "Gaara, how could you!?"

"I don't know, I just…oh god, I hope she's okay; she hasn't come to see me today." Gaara buried his face in his hands.

"Why don't you apologize to her?"

"I would if I knew where…" Gaara lifted his head up "…wait a minute…_of course_…"

"What?"

"Don't mind me; I'm just thinking out loud."

* * *

As he had always done after work, Gaara hit the gym. Unfortunately for him, no matter how many reps he did, no matter how long he spent on the treadmill, Naruka just didn't show up. Eventually, he gave up and hit the shower. He took a little longer than usual as if he was trying to wash away the shame he felt for making Naruka cry. Even that didn't seem to do much, so he just decided that maybe she didn't really kill herself and that he'd run into her sooner or later. It turned out to be sooner when he saw a familiar orange Chevelle in the parking lot.

"Naruka!"

Gaara quickened his pace when he saw Naruka walking towards him. Unfortunately for him, the moment she made eye contact with him, she dropped her gym bag, crossed her arms and turned away from him.

"Oh, it's _you_," said Naruka, who was wearing a red Aeropostale zippered hoodie in addition to leggings and sneakers. "What do _you_ want?"

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened yesterday at the library," replied Gaara.

"Oh, you're sorry NOW?" Naruka refused to turn around. "You didn't look very sorry yesterday!"

"Look, if you're mad at me, I understand, but please, hear me out!"

"Hear this: I didn't eat a single thing since after you said you hated me! Not even _Sasuke_ would say anything like that to me! You should be ashamed of yourself, you bastard!"

"I may not have been an accident of birth, but I am indeed very ashamed of myself, and if there's _any_ way in which I can make it up to you, please let me know!"

"Hm?" Naruka blinked, but still held her position.

"Yes, I really do want to make it up to you. I've never met anybody like you before, and now that I think about it, I was hoping to take you out for a drink tomorrow."

Naruka whirled around to face Gaara, uncrossing her arms in the process. "WOW! Really!?"

Gaara smiled. "Really."

"Oh, thank you thank you THANK YOU!"

Naruka rewarded Gaara's apology with a big hug, which he gladly returned. Even with his Schott jacket on, Gaara could still feel Naruka's curves. What he really liked feeling was her cheek pressing against his. The slight hint of Chanel No. 5 was a nice touch as well. She held on to him for so long that he thought he could hear his own heartbeat. Eventually, they backed down from the hug, but Naruka kept her hands on Gaara's waist for just a bit more.

"So, where to, boy?" asked Naruka.

"Hmmm…" Gaara stroked his chin, and then snapped his fingers. "How about the Brewed Awakenings in Johnston at 7:00?"

"Where's that?"

"It's on Route 5, 1395 Atwood Avenue, in the plaza across from BJ's."

Naruka gave a thumbs up. "Sounds great, babe! Here, let me give you my number just in case anything comes up…"

Naruka pulled a pen and pad of sticky notes out of her purse, wrote down her number and handed it to Gaara.

"Here you go!" said Naruka.

Gaara gave her his number as well. "Excellent! I can't wait to see you then!"

"I can't wait to see you too! Believe it!"

"Thank you! Enjoy your workout, and have a good day!" Gaara waved at Naruka.

"You're welcome! Bye!"

The two parted ways.

* * *

When he got home, Gaara went to Kankuro – who was watching a UFC match on TV – got in his way and blew a Bronx cheer at him.

"Gaara, what the hell!?" Kankuro leaned to the side to get a look at the TV. "I'm trying to watch the tube here!"

"I'll allow it, but first, I wanted to say, you'll NEVER believe who got a date tomorrow night!" Gaara crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side as he smiled.

Kankuro blinked slowly. "Wait…are you telling me that you got a date…with a woman?"

"That I did!"

"Hey, good going, brother!"

Kankuro and Gaara gave each other a high-five.

"Thanks, Kankuro! I'll let you know how it goes!"

"Yeah, cool!"

Gaara went up to his room again. This time, he fired up his NES and played _Super Mario Bros._ until he was sick of it. Rather than watching some violent exploitation movie or one of his favorite Orson Welles movies afterwards, he popped in _Kiki's Delivery Service_. He needed an injection of cuteness to keep his spirits high, after all. Once the movie was over, he listened to some peaceful music, starting with "Jack and Jill" by Raydio. His spirit soothed, he got ready for bed and was able to turn the light out knowing that he'd redeemed himself. Little did he know he was in for the ride of his life…

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	7. Coffee

The next day at work, Gaara eagerly did whatever he was told and fulfilled customers' requests without so much as a whimper. Though he carried a look of stone cool on his face, his anxiety was getting the better of him, particularly in regards to tonight's outing. What should he wear? How should he act? When should he arrive? He tried easing his anxiety by going to the gym after work, but it didn't do much good.

By the time Gaara got home, the agony of these decisions had not let up. Eventually, he decided that he was just gonna wear a clean pair of jeans and a Metallica T-shirt. Even though he was more of a fan of the Cliff Burton era, he figured that the band had enough mainstream cachet with their larger body of work that the ladies wouldn't question him wearing it so much as if he wore a Traitor's Gate T-shirt. Plus, he figured it would still go well with his Schott leather jacket. He then opened the linen closet and rifled through the various colognes and deodorants that he'd gotten over the years, mainly as gifts from Temari. He had never been one for that sort of thing, but damn it, he wanted to _impress_ tonight! Besides, if Naruka could wear Chanel No. 5, he figured she couldn't be allergic to whatever he would put on. Eventually, he settled on a bottle of Cruiser cologne and gave himself a slight spritz behind both ears. As he was checking his facial hair growth, he heard knocking on the bathroom door.

"Hold on, Kankuro!"

After checking his bodily hair, Gaara exited the bathroom soon enough, threw on his leather jacket and boogied on down to Brewed Awakenings.

* * *

Once he got to Brewed Awakenings, Gaara scanned the parking lot, looking for Naruka's Chevelle. It was easy to pick out amongst the generic Asian compacts and SUVs that otherwise filled the lot, so he assumed that she was already inside. He found out how wrong he was when he got glomped from behind on his walk to the café.

"YAY! I knew you'd make it!" Naruka held on tight as she took in Gaara's scent. "Oh yeah, now that's what I'm talking about!"

Gaara blushed. "Pleased to meet you too, Naruka."

"Hey, don't be so modest, babe! Go ahead, tell me that this is NOT the best part of the day!"

"I will admit, I have been anticipating this for quite some time now."

Naruka giggled. "Aw, you're so sweet, Gaara!"

Recognizing that the date was better spent inside, the two entered the joint and walked up to the cashier, a redhead.

"What can I get you?" asked the cashier.

Gaara stepped up first. "I'll have a medium hot coffee…black."

"And you, Miss…?"

"Hmmm…" Naruka stroked her chin, and then snapped her fingers. "Gimme a large latte with caramel, a double chocolate muffin and an Asiago bagel with cream cheese!"

"Anything else?"

"Nope!"

Just as Gaara was pulling some cash out of his wallet, Naruka had her card ready and scanned it. Thus, Gaara led Naruka to the nearest empty table, where they sat down and took off their jackets.

"Naruka, was it really necessary for you to pay?" asked Gaara.

"Why not?" said Naruka. "You work hard, and you deserved to be treated well! Believe it!"

"But I was the one who insulted you and offered to take you here, so I feel it's only fair that I should have been the one to pay."

"I get what you're saying, but who cares as long as we have a fun time?"

Gaara nodded. "You do have a point there. Now then, tell me about yourself, where are you from? I haven't seen you around for that long."

"Originally, I'm from Boston, but I couldn't take city life that much longer, so I moved to Glocester."

"Glocester? That's where I live."

"NO SIR!"

"Yes, I do."

"Where exactly do you live?"

"My house is right near the Ponaganset Reservoir."

"NO SIR! That is TOO funny! I moved near there, too!"

At this time, another employee – a brunette – brought Gaara and Naruka their stuff. Naruka chose to sample her coffee first. A tiny sip elicited a hearty "mmm" from her.

"You like the coffee, I presume?" said Gaara.

"Babe, _this_ is what I call a latte!" said Naruka. "You definitely picked one hell of a place to get coffee!"

"Well, I'm glad you're enjoying it…"

"Something wrong, Gaara?"

Gaara rubbed the back of his head. "Oh no, nothing's wrong...that is, unless you count the fact that I yelled at you and insulted you wrong."

Naruka reached out and touched Gaara's free hand. "Hey, don't worry about it! Everybody makes mistakes! Hell, I punched my friend Sasuke one time!"

"Oh? Can you tell me more?"

"This was back in elementary school: he and I were playing basketball, and I got mad because he kept refusing to pass the ball to me, so I, like, punched him in the face."

"I suppose that's understandable."

"I was really scared because I was forced to eat lunch in the principal's office for the whole week and I was afraid he wouldn't like me anymore, but we're _totally_ over that now! Believe it!"

"Well, I'm glad you're able to look past your past, because quite frankly, I've done things that still haunt me."

Naruka got up, walked to Gaara's side of the table, sat down next to him and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Babe, it's OK to mess up!" said Naruka. "Nobody's perfect! The important thing is that you're here now and that you're willing to admit your mistakes!"

Gaara wrapped his arm around Naruka in spite of the fact that her touch made him blush.

"Thanks, Naruka. This means a lot to me."

Naruka giggled. "You're welcome!"

"So, I wanted to ask you about the model you bought last Saturday: have you been building models for long?"

"Well, I did build some of those snap-together models when I was a little girl, but this is my first time building one that has to be glued and painted, so this could be fun."

"I've built a few models myself, and I must say, it can be laborious, but the results are worth it."

"Cool!"

Having soothed Gaara's spirit for now, Naruka returned to her side of the table.

"Say, why didn't you get any snacks?" asked Naruka.

"I just didn't feel like it," replied Gaara.

"But aren't you hungry?"

"No, not really, but I understand why you asked."

"OK, I was just making sure."

"So tell me, Naruka, what else do you do besides model building and exercising?"

"Well, I like watering my plants. Oh, and dancing!"

"You must go out to plenty of clubs then."

"Nah, not really. Why bother when you have a bitchin' sound system at home?"

"Point taken. As for me, I like working out, watching movies and TV shows, tending to my cacti and socializing."

"Wow, I had no idea you were a people person!"

"Actually, truth be told, I hate most people, but deep down inside, I also want to make sure that they can sleep at night because I care about their health and well-being."

"Why do you say you hate people?"

"I…er…nothing. Maybe I hate certain things people do, like when they stomp on glue packages at my store."

Naruka did her best to suppress laughter. "What!?"

Gaara chuckled. "Yeah, somebody did that last Wednesday, and I wanted to break the neck of whoever did it."

"It's OK, I've wanted to hurt people, too! But you know what?"

"What?"

"When you spend enough time around people, you tend to realize that they're not so bad after all! Believe it!"

"Funny thing is, I want to believe it, but sometimes, it gets really hard."

At this point, Naruka was trying to suppress laughter.

"Naruka, why are you laughing?"

"You said 'it gets really hard!'"

Gaara crossed his arms. "I was being serious."

"I know; I just have a dirty mind sometimes!"

Gaara loosened his pose and had a little chuckle too. He didn't expect a woman like her to be so frank about what was on her mind, but he also kept in mind that this was only the first date.

"Know what?" said Gaara. "You're forgiven! I mean, I for one think sexuality is a normal thing! Granted, I didn't expect you to talk about something like that on our first date, but OK."

* * *

Once they'd consumed their stuff, Gaara and Naruka exited the café.

"Naruka, thanks for going out with me tonight."

"Thank you for offering, babe! I had so much fun!"

"Say, I forgot to ask…"

Naruka tilted her head. "Yeah?"

"What's your favorite food?"

"Why, it's ramen!"

"Ramen, you say?"

"I do say!"

"Fortunately for you, I know this excellent ramen eatery in Providence…"

Naruka put her hands on her cheeks. "NO SIR!"

"Yes ma'am. It's called Ganko Ittetsu, and it's on the corner of Thayer and Waterman. Would you like to go with me tomorrow night at 7:00?"

"Oh, yesyesyesyesYES!"

Naruka gave Gaara another big hug, which he once again returned with a smile on his face.

"Naruka, did I tell you how much I enjoy being hugged?"

"Gaara, did I tell you how much I enjoy hugging people?"

"You're too kind, you know that?"

"Of course I do!"

"So modest, too!"

Naruka giggled before breaking away from the hug. "Have a good night, Gaara!"

"You too, Naruka!"

* * *

Gaara returned home with a big smile. When he entered the house, he saw Kankuro sleeping on the couch in the living room. Ordinarily, he would let sleeping brothers lie, but he felt so good about himself that he shook him a bit.

"Huh…wha…?" Kankuro looked around. "Aw crap, I missed the end of _In Tandem_! What do you want, Gaara?"

"Guess who had the best time of his life tonight?"

"I take it your date went well?"

"Not only that, but I got a SECOND DATE tomorrow! Oh, I think I'm in love!"

"Hey, don't blow a fuse, man! This is only your first date, you know?"

"I know, but still, this is a HUGE step forwards for me!"

"Gaara, get some sleep. You got work tomorrow."

Gaara mocked Kankuro. "Gaara, get some sleep. You got work tomorrow."

"Man, if I weren't so tired, I would kick your ass."

Gaara simply ignored Kankuro and got ready for bed. This time, he hugged his pillow, not out of sadness or regret, but out of sheer happiness due to finally being able to get his foot in the door.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	8. A Huge Step Forwards

Rain had settled in today, but that did little to dampen Gaara's spirit. He accepted the oncoming workday as it was, knowing what was to come later that day. It helped that he had Matsuri to talk with about it, too.

"So, how did it go?" asked Matsuri.

"Oh, it went quite well, thank you for asking."

"That's nice. Where did you go?"

"We went to a cafe named Brewed Awakenings in Johnston. Have you ever been there?"

"Not the one in Johnston, but my boyfriend and I went to the one in Warwick."

"What's that one like?"

"It's huge! One time, I went with one of my Meetup groups, and there was this event being held for a gubernatorial candidate."

"That must've been quite a time."

"Yeah, it was pretty fun!"

* * *

On his trip to the gym, Gaara encountered Naruka again.

"Hey, good to see you again, babe!" Naruka gave Gaara a big hug.

Gaara smiled. "The pleasure is likewise."

Naruka broke away from the hug. "So, wanna run with me on the treadmill?"

"You're on!"

Gaara and Naruka took the nearest available treadmills, and after the short wait that came with hitting the "Quick Start" buttons, they set their speed and were off. Initially, Gaara found the whole thing fun, especially considering he had the privilege of running with someone who looked smokin' hot in a sports bra. As time went on, however, he found the novelty of the whole thing ebbing along with his speed, so he decided to punch the "Cool Down" button on his treadmill. Once it had slowed down and stopped, he hopped off, bent over and rested his hands on his thighs. Naruka took notice and stopped her treadmill.

"Gaara, are you OK?"

"I...I'm...fine..." Gaara huffed and puffed.

"OK, I'm just checking!"

"Th...thank you..."

Finally, Gaara mustered the strength to stand upright and wiped his brow. "I'll never understand how people can run so fast for so long."

"Well, how else?" said Naruka. "It's all about practice! Believe it!"

"I suppose you're right."

Naruka looked at her Timex. "Gee, I can't believe it's already almost 5:00! I better hurry back home if I'm gonna be on time for tonight's date!"

"I'm about done too, so I won't keep you. See you in Providence!"

* * *

Time kept on slipping into the future, and both Gaara and Naruka made it to Ganko Ittetsu on time. The place wasn't especially packed tonight, but there was still a fair number of college students looking to get their fill of ramen. Nevertheless, Gaara and Naruka got a table soon enough.

"So, what are you gonna have?" asked Naruka.

"Well, I've always been partial to their Gankara Miso, so that's what I'm having."

"Hmmm…" Naruka stroked her chin. "That looks interesting, but I'm going with the regular Miso."

"Whatever suits you."

Naruka smiled.

Then, their waitress arrived.

"Hello, welcome to Ganko Ittetsu!" said the waitress. "Can I start you two off with drinks?"

"Coke, please!" said Naruka.

"I think I'll try a Ramuné," said Gaara.

The waitress left the two lovebirds to their own devices.

"Ram-what?" said Naruka.

"Ramuné is a type of soda from Japan. To open it, you use a plastic stopper to push down a glass marble."

Naruka squinted at Gaara. "That sounds unnecessarily complicated."

"And you're telling me that a bottle opener isn't?"

Naruka crossed her arms. "Point taken." She loosened her stance. "Now, what exactly got you into the stuff?"

"Actually, I've never tried it before; I've only seen a friend try it when I went to this anime group that I went to. Personally, I'm surprised I didn't go for it then."

"I know, right?"

Soon, enough, the waitress returned with their drinks.

"What can I get for you two?" she said.

"I'll have a Miso ramen with extra pork, crunchy garlic and black garlic oil!" said Naruka.

"I'll have a Gankara Miso ramen with crunchy garlic," said Gaara.

Once again, the waitress left to get their orders ready.

"You like garlic?" said Gaara. "I thought you'd be turned off by it."

"Oh no, babe, I _loooove_ it!" said Naruka. "As a matter of fact, garlic turns me _on_!"

Gaara blushed. "Right. So uh…where do you see yourself in five years?"

"The way you're acting around me, I could see myself travelling the globe with you in five years!"

Gaara sank down in his seat. "Er…I uh…don't you think we're _maybe_ jumping the gun a little on this one?"

Naruka giggled. "It's so cute how you act so shy around me!"

"Look…as much as I like hugging you and everything…I think now may not be the best time to talk about _us_, savvy?"

"Hey, I'm only teasing you, boy!"

"Th-that's very nice and all, b-but…will you excuse me for a second?"

"Sure!"

Gaara got up from his seat and gently rushed for the bathroom. In the bathroom, he rested on the sink with his hands and lowered his head, trying to collect his thoughts. Was Naruka seriously thinking about marrying him at this point in the game? Perhaps she was merely teasing him, but in any case, it was causing a serious heat rush to his face.

(_Maybe I should've had a drink to cool off…_)

Gaara turned on the sink and splashed his face with cool and possibly not all that clean Providence water. After looking in the mirror, his eyes were drawn to the kanji on his forehead: "愛"…"love". Maybe it was giving off a signal to Naruka, or maybe it was a sign that somehow this whole thing was really meant to be. Whatever it meant, Gaara smiled and decided to try humor on Naruka. He'd been meaning to incorporate such a thing into his daily life ever since he'd watched a TED Talk about it a couple of weeks ago, but he hadn't thought about it much, if at all. He exited the bathroom and sat down just in time for the waitress to bring their food to them.

"Wow, you really took your sweet time!" said Naruka.

Gaara rubbed the back of his head. "I was…just playing it cool! Yeah, that's the ticket…"

Naruka chuckled. "Whatever you say, boy! Now hurry up and eat, I don't wanna see anyone eating cold ramen!"

Naruka stirred her ramen, scooped up a hearty portion of pork, noodles and crunchy garlic, and bit down into it. Not long into the meal, she dropped her spoon and gasped.

"Naruka, what's wrong?" Gaara set his spoon down. "Is it too hot?"

"OH…MY…GOSH! THIS IS THE BEST FREAKIN' RAMEN I HAVE EVER TASTED! IT'S LIKE SOMEONE SET OFF A FLAVOR BOMB IN MY MOUTH! I FEEL LIKE I'M GONNA HAVE AN ORGASM IF I EAT ANY MORE!"

Gaara smiled. "Glad you're enjoying it!"

"'ENJOYING' DOESN'T EVEN BEGIN TO DESCRIBE HOW I'M FEELING ABOUT IT!"

"It doesn't even begin to describe how I'm feeling seeing your reaction to it, either!"

Naruka laughed. "Stop!"

"Hey, you refuse to stop with the flirting, so I refuse to stop with what I'm doing!"

Naruka continued laughing, and she even pounded the table a few times. Gaara couldn't help but smile.

* * *

Finally, when Naruka's laughing fit subsided, she scarfed down the rest of her ramen. Once they received the check, Gaara and Naruka agreed to split the bill, although the former snuck in a little extra for the tip as his way of making up for making her cry at the library. Naruka interlocked hands with Gaara as they left the restaurant.

"Thanks again, babe!" said Naruka. "That was _the best_ restaurant I've ever been to in my life! Believe it!"

"You're welcome! A woman like you deserves to be treated to her favorite things!"

"You're so sweet, Gaara!"

"Wait…didn't you already say that before?"

"Well, why don't I show you how I feel about you?"

"And how do you intend to do that?"

Naruka rested her arms on Gaara's shoulders. "Just watch me, babe!"

With that, Naruka pulled Gaara in and kissed him. Gaara's eyes widened, his heart rate soared into the stratosphere, and with it, he turned red like never before. Even so, he retained enough composure to place his hands around her waist. After spending so long without a woman, it really warmed him to finally receive the kind of touch he could only have dreamed about. When Naruka broke away, Gaara was panting like crazy.

"You OK there?" asked Naruka.

"Naruka…I…m-may I have another?"

"Certainly!"

And with that, Naruka gave Gaara another kiss. He found it no less pleasurable than the first one even though he had been the one to ask for it. He moaned with delight as he took in her taste. She lingered on his lips just a moment more before backing off, though she continued to hold him. This time, Gaara couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you so much, my darling," said Gaara.

"Awww, you're welcome, sweetheart!" said Naruka. "Can I do anything else for you?"

"I think I'm good for now, but if I do think of anything, I'll call or text you, OK?"

"You got it, babe!"

Naruka let go of Gaara, and the two parted ways.

* * *

Back at his house, Gaara looked around for Kankuro, who strangely enough was nowhere to be found. Using this to his advantage, he grabbed a pen and paper, and wrote the following note:

"Dear Kankuro:

HA HA!

3 Gaara"

Then, Gaara went to bed with a smile on his face. Suddenly, the future looked as if it were above his head.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	9. Getting Closer

**A/N: Sorry for the late update. Like I said, I have lots of projects going on in my life, and fanfiction often gets pushed to the wayside. Nevertheless, I AM committed to finishing this one.**

* * *

"So, how was last night, brother?" asked Kankuro.

Gaara put down his coffee and smiled. "Oh, it was fantastic! You won't believe what finally happened to me!"

"What?"

"I got my _first kiss_!"

"Really? Hey, good going!"

Gaara and Kankuro exchanged a high five.

"How was your night?" asked Gaara.

"It was cool. I hung out with some babes, but nothing much came out of it."

"Be optimistic! You never know what's gonna come your way!"

"That reminds me: Why the snarky letter?"

"Hey, when one gets that first kiss with one of the most beautiful women ever, one has every right to leave snarky letters!"

* * *

After breakfast, Gaara freshened up, prepped his lunch and got dressed for work before heading out the door. As he was walking to his GTO, he heard a horn honking. He looked out to the road and saw Naruka's Chevelle parked near the end of his driveway, so he walked over.

"Hey boy, how 'bout a ride?" asked Naruka.

"I can drive myself, but thanks for the offer!" said Gaara.

"Are you sure? I was planning on driving by your store anyways, so I figured maybe we could help the planet and save some gas, plus we could spend time with each other!"

Gaara stroked his chin. "Well…when you put it that way…I accept!"

Naruka gave a thumbs up. "Grand! Let's go!"

* * *

On the way to Michael's, Naruka had an Eagles tape playing. The current song was "The Long Run".

"Naruka, I can't thank you enough for last night." Gaara smiled. "I knew that my first kiss was going to be something special, but I didn't know it was going to feel like _that_!"

"Babe, are you seriously telling me you've NEVER been kissed before?"

"Barring my sister Temari…no."

Naruka gasped. "NOT EVEN BY YOUR PARENTS!?"

"Well…no…"

"Oh, you poor guy! If you need any more of my affections, you can have them _any time_ you want!"

Naruka placed a hand on one of Gaara's thighs, causing him to blush and gently remove it.

"I think we'd better keep both hands on the wheel…" said Gaara.

Naruka giggled. "Oh, you're so silly! Doesn't everybody in New England drive with one hand on the wheel?"

"I uh…didn't want us to crash or anything like that."

Naruka kept giggling. "Babe, I've been through my fair share of snowstorms! I'm pretty sure I can operate a motor vehicle one-handed!"

"Whatever you say, my darling!"

* * *

Eventually, Naruka and Gaara reached Michael's.

"Hey, thanks for the ride, Naruka!"

"You're welcome! I had fun talking with you! Have a good day!"

Naruka kissed Gaara again. Though brief, it nevertheless sent the latter's heart soaring.

"You too!"

Gaara waved at Naruka as he got out of the car, marching into the store with a renewed sense of satisfaction. Granted, he still didn't want to go to work, but he felt that as long as one of his objectives was going well, things would work out.

* * *

Throughout the day, there were a few customers who asked Gaara what he felt were dumb questions, but overall, there wasn't too much going on with him, although he got to spend another break with Matsuri.

"Gaara, you seem brighter today. Everything going well?"

"Everything is _awesome_! I couldn't ask for anything more!"

"I'm glad to hear it! Say, where's your car? Don't you usually drive yourself here?"

"Well, I had a friend drive me today. Figured I could save some wear and tear on the old Goat."

Matsuri's eyes lit up when she heard this. "I had no idea you cared about the environment!"

"Actually, it was mostly her idea; I just couldn't refuse."

"This friend…tell me more about her." Matsuri interlocked her fingers and rested her head on her hands.

"I've told you about her. She's the blonde woman I took out for coffee the night prior."

"Are you two…?"

"Yes!"

"And did you…?"

"Well...we haven't gotten to _that_ point yet, but I did get my first kiss from her."

"Gaara, I'm so happy for you!"

Matsuri got up from her seat and hugged Gaara. Every second that he continued existing, he felt better and better about his own life.

"Thank you, Matsuri! I'm happy for you, too!"

"Awww!"

Eventually, Matsuri let go of Gaara.

* * *

Nothing notable happened for the rest of the day, until Naruka came to pick him up. After that, they shared another session in the gym before heading on their way to Glocester. Along the way, they listened to a Def Leppard tape, which was blaring "Photograph".

"Hey Naruka, I have a question..."

"Yes…?"

"Can we drive down to George Allen Road?"

"Why, what's over there?"

Gaara winked at Naruka. "You'll see."

Eventually, Naruka pulled over on George Allen Road and shut the car off. After getting out, Gaara led Naruka through the foliage off the side of the road and to a small clearing overlooking the Ponaganset Reservoir.

"What's this?" asked Naruka.

Gaara smiled. "My secret Place of Solitude."

"Place of Solitude, huh?"

Gaara sat down on a rocky outcropping. "Yes, it is. I go here whenever I need a place to reconnect with nature or to escape the rest of the world."

Naruka sat down, and then straddled Gaara, who blushed.

"N-Naruka…what are you doing!?"

Naruka placed her hands on Gaara's shoulders. "Well now it's your secret makeout place!"

Naruka kissed Gaara again. Helpless against her touch, he wrapped his arms around her and let her make out with him. In this cold weather, her softness brought him a warmth unlike any other. The sound of her gentle lips smacking against his gave him an electric sensation up and down his spine. In spite of the fact that he'd already done this before, he found it no less welcoming, and in fact, it was probably even more welcoming this time around. He couldn't tell if she was wearing that much makeup, but he loved her taste, nonetheless. Eventually, Naruka stopped kissing Gaara, but she continued holding him and locking eyes with him.

"N-Naruka..."

"Yes, honey?"

"I don't ever want to do anything else."

"And there you go again, silly!"

"Go again with what?"

"Being one of the sweetest guys I've ever met! In fact, you're so sweet that I'm giving you a special treat!"

"Which is...?"

"I'm gonna let you come over my house tonight! Believe it!"

"Are you sure about that?"

Naruka giggled. "Of course I'm sure!"

"Naruka, as much as I enjoy being with you, I'm not so sure we should be doing this yet."

Naruka pouted. "Are you saying you don't want to come over?"

"I'm not saying that, I just…"

"But I have no friends over here, and I get _lonely_ at night!"

"I'm sorry to hear that. Really, I am. I just feel that maybe we should get to know each other a little better before we embark on trips to each other's houses."

Naruka's eyes sparkled. "Come on, Gaara, I know a sweetheart like you wouldn't leave a pretty young woman like _me_ to die alone…would you?"

Gaara couldn't believe what Naruka was doing. Was she really trying to guilt trip him into coming over? He didn't want to fall for her ruse, but then again, he too got lonely at night, even living in the same house with Kankuro. Nevertheless, he figured it could be fun.

"No, of course I wouldn't." Gaara smiled.

"So you're coming over?" said Naruka.

"Yes, absolutely!"

"Awesome!"

Naruka kissed Gaara again.

"Just let me go back home first," said Gaara. "I have to grab a few things."

"OK!"

* * *

After stopping at Gaara's house so he could get a few of his personal effects, Naruka and Gaara headed on to Naruka's house. It was a dilapidated-looking two-story home, but when they stepped inside, Gaara was wowed by the condition of the interior.

"Naruka, this is even nicer than my place!"

"You like?"

"I love!"

"Yeah, it's pretty awesome! Believe it!"

"So, what did you want to do now?"

"I'm actually kinda hungry, so let's have supper, huh?"

"OK. What did you have in mind?"

"Just sit tight and let me wow you!"

Gaara did as he was told and took a seat at Naruka's dinner table. Meanwhile, Naruka grabbed a pot, some utensils and a bunch of ingredients and got to work. The sound of the water boiling proved quite relaxing to Gaara's ears. He had a feeling about what Naruka was going to make for them, but he decided to keep his mouth shut. Instead, he let the smell of fresh vegetables caress his nose. What really intrigued him was the scent of pork cooking. Having put two and two together, he quickly deduced what she was making...

"Here it comes, boy!"

Naruka set down two bowls of piping-hot ramen. As soon as she was seated, she noticed Gaara with his hands clasped together and his head lowered.

"Babe, what are you doing?" asked Naruka.

Gaara raised his head. "At my house, it's customary to pray before we eat."

"OK, but what do we pray to?"

"Just thank God for making all of this possible, you know: the food, the companionship...everything. Actually, you can let me do the talking."

Naruka nodded. Then, she clasped her hands together and bowed her head.

"Dear God, thank you for providing us with the ingredients to make this meal possible," said Gaara. "May they return to the earth, to be born once again. And thank you for bringing us together as companions, that we may create happy memories with each other for the time we are together. Amen."

With that, Gaara and Naruka started eating. The former froze after taking a single bite.

"Gaara?"

"Naruka, this is GREAT ramen! Where did you get the recipe?"

"I came up with it myself! Believe it!"

"Well, you've done a very good job of it!"

"Awww...thank you!"

"You're welcome!"

Gaara and Naruka continued eating.

"Naruka, tell me something...

"What?"

"How many friends did you have back in Boston?"

"Well, I didn't have a lot of close friends, but pretty much everybody in school knew my name."

"Seems like you were pretty famous back there."

Naruka nodded. "It wasn't always easy, but it was interesting."

"Truth be told, I was pretty famous in my school, but not for the right reasons." Gaara frowned.

"You weren't a bully in school...were you?"

"No, not really. I was just one of those anti-social types who hated everybody else. Usually, people left me alone, but I did get into a few fights."

"Oh my god! You didn't get kicked out...did you?"

"Thankfully not, but I did get in some serious trouble."

"But you're OK now, right?"

"As I once mentioned to you, it's not something I like to talk about. Even today, there are still a few hurdles I've yet to clear."

Naruka got up from her chair, moved it to where Gaara was and hugged him.

"I know I'm not a therapist," said Naruka, "but I'd like you to know that you can talk with me if there's _anything_ you need to get off your chest."

Gaara smiled. "Thanks again! I know you say that I'm sweet, but have you ever looked at yourself?"

"Come here, you!"

Naruka gave Gaara a kiss on the cheek.

"So, do you have any other plans for this wonderful evening?" asked Gaara.

"Well, I was wondering: do you like video games?"

Gaara smiled. "I love video games! Do you have any favorites?"

"Several! Does it matter which one we play?"

"I'm happy with whichever one you choose!"

* * *

Once they'd finished supper, Naruka and Gaara headed to the living room, where the former ended up popping in a copy of _Mario Kart 64_. For their first race, Naruka chose to play as Yoshi, while Gaara chose to play as Wario. It was a regular race on Luigi Raceway.

"Ready to lose, boy?" asked Naruka.

"Only if you are!" said Gaara.

And so, the race was on. Overall, it was a white-knuckle, no-holds-barred, neck-and-neck fight to the finish. Towards the end, it looked as though Naruka was going to win, but thanks to a last-minute mushroom, Gaara won the race.

"Why would you do that?" Naruka pouted. "That wasn't fair!"

"According to all rules and regulations, it was entirely fair," said Gaara.

"Oh yeah!? Well, you're really gonna get it next time!"

For the next race, Naruka and Gaara headed to Moo Moo Farm. This race was no less intense than the previous one. Thanks to a red shell that he fired at Naruka just before she could cross the finish line, Gaara won yet again.

"All right, you're really starting to annoy me!" said Naruka.

"Then maybe you should play better," said Gaara.

"Well maybe I will!"

This time, the action took place at Koopa Troopa Beach. For most of this one, Naruka was ahead…that is, until Gaara struck her with a lightning bolt and ran her over, causing him to win the race. Naruka gritted her teeth and growled.

"WHY YOU…!"

Naruka lunged at Gaara, put him in a headlock and pressed him against her chest.

"Naruka, NO!" Gaara flailed about, trying to escape, but it was no use.

"How does it feel now, hm?"

"Please! There's no need to be a sore loser!"

"Well maybe I wouldn't be so sore if you didn't cheat all the time!"

"I wasn't trying to cheat, I…YOWCH!"

Naruka tugged at Gaara's head. "Sure!"

"Let me go! I can't breathe!"

"Tell you what: admit that you were a cheater and I'll let you go. Fair enough?"

"ALL RIGHT! You win! I'm sorry!"

Naruka smiled and let Gaara go. The latter gasped for air, and his face was red.

"You know," said Gaara, "if you weren't one of my favorite women on the planet, I would've crushed your pretty little head with my thighs."

Naruka smiled. "Boy, I would _love_ to see you try!"

"Trust me, you wouldn't."

"What's the matter, Gaara? Chicken?" Naruka made some fairly-convincing clucking sounds.

"OK, forget it. Let's just do something that doesn't involve me getting suffocated by your breasts."

"Sure thing. What do you wanna do next?"

Gaara stroked his chin. "Hmmm…" Then, he snapped his fingers. "I know! Why don't we listen to some music?"

"Sure thing! Anything in particular you wanted to listen to?"

"Not really. I'm comfortable with whatever you choose."

"Well, why don't we go with one of your tunes?"

"As you wish…" Gaara pulled out his phone. "Your hi-fi system doesn't have Bluetooth, does it?"

"It does. Just look for 'Home Hi-Fi 103'."

Gaara nodded. "Right."

After connecting his phone to Naruka's hi-fi, Gaara put on "Unstoppable Force" by Agent Steel and began headbanging. Naruka's eyes widened, and she dropped her jaw when the song got going.

"Gaara, what is this!?"

Gaara stopped headbanging briefly. "It's one of my favorite thrash metal songs! Isn't it great?"

"Shut it off! You're gonna blow out my speakers with this violent crap!"

"As you wish."

Reluctantly, Gaara shut off the song.

"Wouldn't you rather listen to something more…relaxing?" asked Naruka.

"Like _what_?"

Naruka pulled out her phone. "Like _this_…"

Naruka put on "Lights" by Journey. Then, she walked over to Gaara, placed a hand on his waist and grabbed his hand with her other one.

"May I have this dance?" asked Naruka.

Gaara smiled and nodded.

Thus, the two began waltzing around the living room. Never in Gaara's life had he felt more relaxed or happy. He had absolutely nothing in the world to compare it to. In the past, he would've dismissed the whole thing as some "wuss crap", but now that somebody had touched his heart in that special way that only a significant other could do, he embraced it wholeheartedly. Gaara found the lyrics of the song very relatable as well, particularly the part about being lonely. Nevertheless, with Naruka here, he truly felt as though he'd gotten to that mythical "city by the bay".

Naruka too, felt as though she'd found true happiness. With every step she took, every sway of her hips, she became one with the music. Knowing that she'd found somebody else to share this with made her feel that her heart and Gaara's were truly one. What was especially comforting to her was that a guy whom she wouldn't have expected to share in such a magical moment was indeed sharing in it with her. Overall, Naruka was feeling quite groovy, and lost herself to the playlist of ballads she'd set up for such an occasion. By the time the playlist got to the last song, the two lovebirds couldn't have been more overjoyed.

"Thank you for dancing with me," said Gaara. "That more than makes up for the fact that I skipped my junior and senior proms."

Naruka dropped her jaw. "Gaara, why would you even do that?"

"I was a different person back then. I couldn't have given less of a crap about going to what I viewed as such frivolous wastes of time."

"But they're your junior and senior proms! They're like once-in-a-lifetime opportunities! Hell, I even got Sasuke to go! Believe it!"

"Now now, I'm sure if somebody with your sort of charm had been around, even I could've been convinced into going."

"Well, what's past is past." Naruka's smile returned. "But, you get to look forward to _cuddling_ with me!"

"I do? Nice! Say, what time is it…?" Gaara checked his phone, which read 8:35 PM. "Yeah, it's getting rather late. I don't have work tomorrow, but I still like to get a good night's sleep in."

"Then let's not screw around anymore! Let's get ready, babe!"

* * *

Because they'd already showered at the gym, Naruka and Gaara didn't end up taking one, but they did brush, floss and change into their pajamas. Gaara also took one of his pills before climbing into bed with Naruka.

"Gaara, what was that you just took?"

"That? Oh, just a sleeping pill."

"You don't have trouble sleeping, do you?"

"Not as bad as I used to, but I still find the pills helpful."

"It's OK, I don't judge people for stuff like that! All that matters to me is that you're taking care of yourself!"

"Thank you again! I feel blessed to know a woman like you!"

"And I feel blessed knowing a man like you! Good night!"

Naruka turned off her bedside lamp and cozied up to Gaara. If things kept going the way they were going, he figured that his life was about to change for the better.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	10. Love's the Best Physician

**A/N: To those who have eagerly been awaiting updates to this story, thank you once again for your patience. That means a lot to me! Anyways, enjoy the story!**

* * *

Gaara awoke to find Naruka kissing his cheek. Naturally, he turned bright red when he became aware of this.

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" said Naruka. "How's my little cuddle bear doing?"

"Oh, just splendid. You?"

"Let me tell you something: I am SO excited for today!"

"Why is that?"

"Come downstairs; I'll tell you over breakfast!"

* * *

For breakfast, Naruka prepared some rather standard fare: bacon, eggs and French toast. She even made coffee for Gaara…black.

"I must give props to you for knowing how I like my coffee," said Gaara.

"You know, I always keep plenty of coffee around for my guests," said Naruka. "I don't drink it so much myself, though."

"Speaking of guests, are you expecting any today?"

"Glad you asked! I've invited Sasuke over my place!"

Gaara smiled. "Well, I hope you two have fun!"

"Thank you!"

* * *

Naruka and Gaara brushed and flossed together, after which they put on their street clothes. Gaara then wasted no time in leaving.

"Gaara, wait!"

Naruka rushed out the front door, and Gaara turned around.

"You wouldn't be going anywhere without another one of _these_, would you?"

Naruka wrapped her arms around Gaara and gave him another kiss. Gaara relished the moment as much as – if not more than – other kisses he'd received from her. He hoped that she was feeling that way, too. When Naruka broke away from the kiss, Gaara had a great big smile on his face.

"Thank you, Naruka! If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to give me a call, either!"

Naruka gave a thumbs up. "You got it, babe!"

* * *

After walking all the way to his house, Gaara went up to his room feeling buoyed. Even though he had yet to consummate his relationship with Naruka, it didn't matter too much. As long as he'd gotten his first kiss, he could let anything else slide. Besides, the dream he'd had a few nights ago was still rather fresh in his mind.

"Hmmm…"

Gaara stroked his chin and snapped his fingers, opening his mouth in excitement as he did the latter. He quietly hurried up to his room, locked the door, took off his jacket, pants and underwear, and then lied down on his bed. As he did so, he tried to think of that dream he had, knowing that some men could get off without physical manipulation. He had no trouble getting hard, but getting off was another matter. He tried different breathing techniques, tightening various muscles and other mental images to bring himself to climax, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't quite get himself there. Then, he heard somebody step to his door and somehow open it, causing him to bolt upright and cover his erection.

"Gaara, what the hell…!?" It was Kankuro.

Gaara blushed. "Kankuro, go away!"

"Not before you tell me why your pants aren't on!"

"I was changing my clothes, OK!?"

"Look, if you're jackin' off, you're better off telling the truth! Besides, you did a lousy job of shutting your door!"

"Hey, anything between me and my body is my own goddamn business! Shit, if I didn't care about seeing Naruka again, I would've blown your head off!"

Kankuro smiled. "Oh, so you WERE jackin' off! I think it's so nice that my little brother has a crush on a hot piece of ass!"

"She's NOT just a piece of ass! She has feelings, too!"

"And just how would she feel if she found out that you were jackin' off while thinking about her?"

Gaara growled. He then pulled out a snub-nosed Smith & Wesson Model 19 from a pocket on his leather jacket and pointed it at Kankuro.

"Kankuro, I still like you, but you're REALLY getting on my nerves right now! If you want to live, I politely suggest you drop the whole thing and get out!"

Kankuro gasped and extended a hand to Gaara. "A-all right, Gaara, I'm sorry! I'm goin'!"

Kankuro backed away and fled, shutting the door in the process. Gaara then looked at his gun and felt a huge sense of shame. He couldn't believe he'd threatened to kill his own brother. In the past, he wouldn't have felt such a magnitude of shame, but this was different. It also now occurred to him that he could just as easily have been pointing that gun at Naruka, causing him to shudder. He supposed that ever since he'd been dating her, her kindness had been rubbing off on him and helping his conscience to grow. Even though she wasn't his girlfriend, Matsuri had also been keeping the worse parts of his attitude in check. Women were great like that, he thought to himself. At this point, Gaara also figured that if more women were allowed in positions of authority, then the world would be a better place: less crime, fewer wars, a cleaner environment...just a lovelier place to live. Then again, he figured that not all women were perfect goddesses that many men made them out to be. Regardless, Naruka had helped him to see them more as "mothers of the world".

(_Naruka, I hope you're having a fun time with your friend Sasuke._)

Though Gaara was happy that one of her old friends was visiting, he also began to wonder what exactly they were doing. He feared that she might be cheating on him, but he did his best to push that thought aside. Somewhere, he read that it was becoming increasingly normal for men and women alike to "play the field", as the saying went. Besides, as long as he considered Naruka his first, his last, his everything, then maybe she'd reciprocate. But what if she didn't? What if…?

(_Get your mind off of that track!_) thought Gaara. (_There's no time to stress out over that!_)

No matter how hard he tried, however, Gaara couldn't shake the possibility of Naruka playing around out of his head. Ergo, he decided that the best way to win her heart was through her stomach, so he put his pants and underwear back on and fired up his computer. After heading to allrecipes, he looked around for a good ramen recipe. He found a recipe for Chinese fried noodles, so he copied it down, grabbed his jacket and decided to head for Dino's. First, he paid a visit to Planet Fitness, figuring that a bit of shaping up would do him well.

"Hi, Gaara!"

Gaara recognized the voice that addressed him as he was on his way to the shoulder press machine and turned around. It was Matsuri, dressed in a pink sports bra and black leggings with pink trim. He'd never really paid attention before, but he noticed that she was not quite as curvy as Naruka. That didn't make her any less attractive. Besides, Gaara was more interested in a woman's heart and mind than her curves.

"Oh hello, Matsuri! I didn't know you went to this gym, too!"

"Of course I do, silly! I've been going here for a while!"

"Heh, I wonder why I've never noticed before."

"Maybe it's because we have different schedules."

Gaara shrugged. "Could be."

"Anyways, I just want to say I'm glad you're keeping in shape! It really shows with you!"

Gaara smiled. "I could say the same of you!"

Matsuri giggled. "Gaara, are you saying that you find me attractive?"

Gaara blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "I…er…well…maybe?"

Matsuri put a hand on Gaara's shoulder.

"Gaara, you shouldn't be ashamed to tell a woman she looks nice!" said Matsuri. "Fact is, it would really make my day!"

"Look, I'd love to tell you that, but I'm afraid of what would happen if Naruka found out. Besides, I'm kind of concerned that she might be cheating on me."

"Why?"

Gaara frowned. "Oh, nothing. I guess I'm just hoping that she's not fooling around with this friend that she said was coming over."

"Hey, you don't know everything that goes on with your girlfriend. Everyone deserves a bit of privacy regardless of gender."

"You're right, Matsuri. I guess I shouldn't be too worried. Sorry I brought that up."

"Oh no, it's OK to be worried. The important thing is that you treat her with respect. After all, Confucius once said, 'do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself'."

"Once again, you're right." Gaara smiled. "Thanks for the pep talk, Matsuri!"

Matsuri returned the smile. "You're welcome, Gaara!"

* * *

Nothing else happened while Gaara was exercising. Once he'd showered, he headed directly to Dino's and gathered up all the ingredients he'd need for the ramen, plus a bottle of Martinelli's sparkling cider. Things were going swimmingly, right up to the point when he heard "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and felt the vibrations from his phone. While attempting to maneuver his carriage, he pulled out the phone. It was Naruka, so he answered and got a real shock…

"Hello?" said Gaara.

Naruka sounded like she was crying. "Gaara…oh…thank god you picked up!"

"Naruka...is something wrong?

"Gaara, please get over here! I need you really badly!"

"I'm at Dino's right now, but I _promise_ I'll be there as soon as possible!"

"Please, hurry!"

Naruka hung up, shaking Gaara's newly-developed conscience. He pushed the carriage faster, being careful not to lose control of it. With a sense of dogged determination, he opened his GTO's trunk and gently threw his groceries in. After shutting the trunk and returning the carriage to the proper receptacle, he hopped in his GTO and drove down to Naruka's house as quickly and as carefully as he could, knowing that the Glocester Police Department had a couple of Dodge Chargers and Ford Explorers in their inventory. He never tested his Goat in a straight-up drag race against either vehicle, and he wasn't about to gamble his Ram Air V on it even if Naruka's happiness was on the line. Regardless, he managed not to have any trouble with the police, and he made a brief stop at his house to gather a few things before heading on down to Naruka's house. When Gaara entered, things were awfully quiet, which caused him great worry.

"Naruka?"

Having been here once, he had a good suspicion that she'd be in her bedroom, so he headed up there as quickly as he could after he put the ramen stuff away. Sure enough, Naruka was curled up on her bed in the fetal position, still crying.

"Naruka!"

"Gaara…i-is that you?"

"Yes, it's me. Sorry if I took longer than expected. What happened?"

"It was Sasuke…"

Gaara walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Why, what about him?"

Naruka lifted her head up. "W-we were just talking about life and stuff, and somehow…we ended up talking about work, and he asked me 'when are YOU gonna get a real job and stop living off your parents' inheritance?' I tried to explain that I was looking for a volunteer opportunity to put on my resume, and he told me that I needed a steady income…and you know what happened?"

"What?"

"He told me I'd always be a loser if I didn't get a job! I got really angry at him, a-and we got into a fight, and he said he never wanted t-to see me again, and…AND…"

Naruka could no longer form any words. She curled up again and continued crying. Gaara did what he felt was best: he sat down beside her.

"Naruka, I can't say I know how you feel, but Sasuke had no right to do any of that to you," said Gaara. "Everyone has the right to their own money as long as they earned it legally."

Naruka briefly suppressed her tears and looked at Gaara. "You really think so?"

"Absolutely! Oh, and Naruka…"

"Y…yes?"

Gaara smiled. "I love you."

Those last three words really did it for Naruka. She wrapped her arms around Gaara and cried into his shoulder. Gaara returned her embrace. It was at this point that he couldn't help but feel bad for blowing up at her earlier in the week. Somehow, he had a hunch that she had been through some really horrible things in her life and was reflecting on them as she let out the tears. Regardless, both parties got a real sense of satisfaction just from being with each other. Naruka especially considered herself grateful that she could reach out to a guy like Gaara and let out her feelings without being judged. What she thought was really beautiful was that he wasn't the mean old ogre that she thought he was. Whoever raised him had somehow done a very good job in her opinion. Eventually, Naruka was down to mere sobs, but Gaara continued to hold on to her. Finally, once she stopped crying, she let go.

"How are you feeling, my dear Naruka?"

Naruka was still frowning. "I feel better, I guess…but…" She let out a few more tears. "I'm sorry, I just feel like such a fucking mess right now!"

Gaara smiled. "It's OK! I don't expect you to feel better overnight. Just get yourself cleaned up and I'll have supper ready for both of us."

"You brought stuff for SUPPER!?" Naruka finally smiled. "I didn't know you could cook!"

Gaara chuckled. "Why not? I find it therapeutic! Anyways, you must be cold…"

Much to Naruka's delight, Gaara took off his leather jacket and draped it over her. As he left for the kitchen, she took in the scent that he'd imparted on his jacket.

* * *

To kick things off, Gaara boiled three packs of ramen noodles as per the directions. While he was waiting, he hummed "Queen of the Reich" to himself. Although he got a slight tinge of sadness from having to comfort Naruka, he felt satisfied knowing that he could be there for her. Overall, things were going quite smoothly. Then, Gaara felt Naruka hug him from behind.

"Huh!?" Gaara froze, not out of fear, but out of surprise.

Naruka smiled. "Hey boy, that was a really beautiful thing you did for me back there!"

"Oh…don't mention it, _woman_…"

"But I have to! Any man who comforts a lady with food deserves a special mention! Believe it!"

"Naruka, you're so sweet, but…

"But what?"

"Could you please let me go? I'm almost done with your food and I'd hate to screw it up…"

"But I want to smell you some more!"

"O-OK…I suppose I can let you do that…"

Naruka took a big whiff of Gaara's scent, and in the process, got a whiff of the ramen he was cooking. She sighed contentedly as she would now positively associate Gaara with ramen. She kept hugging for a few seconds more before letting go. Then, she sat down and eagerly anticipated her food.

"Supper is served, my lady!" said Gaara.

Naruka eagerly held out her bowl and let Gaara serve her some ramen. Then, once Gaara served himself, both parties clasped their hands together and bowed their heads, reciting the same prayer that Gaara first recited. Once that was out of the way, both parties dug in. Naruka's eyes widened as the flavor hit her like a freight train.

"WOW!" exclaimed Naruka. "WHERE DID YOU GET THIS RECIPE!?

"I got it off the Internet," replied Gaara. "Why?"

"Babe, this is the BEST damn ramen anyone has ever made for me! In fact, it's so good that it makes me wanna SMOOCH you!"

Gaara blushed. "Naruka…!"

Before he knew it, Naruka had gotten up from her seat and ran to Gaara, who attempted to flee out of surprise. However, she tackled him to the floor and started kissing him. Then, much to his astonishment, he felt something probing through his lips and hitting his teeth. He opened his mouth to push it away, and that was all it took to allow her to French kiss him. Gaara found the whole thing more delightful than regular kissing, mainly because her tongue was so soft and because she appeared to know what she was doing. Finally, Naruka finished by sucking on Gaara's lower lip briefly, which got him hard.

"Gaara, you have such beautiful eyes!" said Naruka.

"And you have beautiful whiskers, Naruka!" said Gaara, still red in the face.

"Thank you! Nobody's ever complimented me about those before! As a matter of fact, some people said I looked ugly because of them!"

"Well, who needs those people?"

"I know, right?" But enough talk, let's finish up that delicious ramen!"

* * *

After finishing up their ramen and drinks, Naruka led Gaara to her living room.

"What do you feel like doing now?" asked Gaara.

Naruka pulled out her smartphone. "If there's anything that helps me after a bad day, it's disco dancing! Believe it!"

After a few taps on the phone's screen, the hi-fi began playing "Doctor's Orders" by Carol Douglas. Almost immediately, Naruka started getting down. Gaara, however, just stood there, confused.

"What's wrong, babe?" asked Naruka.

"I'm sorry; I don't know how to disco dance," said Gaara.

"It's easy! Just loosen up! Feel the beat! You'll get it soon enough!"

"O-OK…"

Gaara started tapping his foot and bobbing his head to the beat. As a guy who was primarily into heavy metal, it took him a while to loosen up, but thanks to the sheer emotion that the song was expressing, he got the hang of it soon enough, just as Naruka had predicted. Once he was really into the groove, he grabbed one of Naruka's hands and put a hand on her waist, the better to share the experience with her. By this time, the music had changed gears…to "Automatic Lover" by Dee D. Jackson, to be precise. The beauty of the whole thing hadn't diminished one bit for either one of them, though. As they danced around the room, the disco beat bumping on, they truly felt like they'd escaped the troubles of the hurried, busy world that they inhabited. Not once did they think about bills or expenses that had to be paid or any mortal obligations that had to be met such as food and drink. All that mattered was the groove. By the time "Jump Shout" by Lisa rolled around, Naruka stopped dancing and wiped the sweat off her brow.

"Are you OK, my darling?" asked Gaara.

"That was fun, but I think we'd better wash up!" Naruka stopped the music.

Gaara sniffed his armpits. "I think you're right."

"All right, let's do it, then!"

* * *

Naruka grabbed Gaara's hand and led him up to the bathroom. Upon getting there, Gaara attempted to go outside, but Naruka grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Babe, what are you doing?" asked Naruka.

"Just giving you some privacy," replied Gaara.

"You don't have to! I mean, we are taking a shower together, aren't we?"

Gaara's face went totally flush. "We ARE!?"

"Duh! I mean, isn't that what people who love each other do?"

"Well…no…I mean yes, but…"

"But _what_? Gaara, I've seen plenty of guys naked before! It's not like I'm a prude or anything!"

"If I disrobe, you'll disrobe too, won't you?"

Naruka slapped Gaara lightly. "Of course I will, silly! Now come on, the night's not getting any younger!"

"OK…"

And so, Gaara and Naruka stripped naked, after which Naruka turned on the shower and waited for the water to warm up. Gaara still couldn't believe that he was doing this, and yet he remembered a time when all he could think about was this one scene from one movie he saw where the two main characters did this exact same thing. He'd forgotten the movie title, and he didn't have much time to think about it when Naruka dragged him into the shower once it was warm enough.

"So, do you like taking a shower with a woman?" asked Naruka.

"So far, yes…" replied Gaara.

"Good, because I _love_ taking showers with people! Believe it!"

It didn't take long for Gaara to get hot. He figured it was because of Naruka. It seemed to him that – barring Sasuke – she had a powerful effect on men. Granted, he still didn't know everything about her past, and he didn't particularly care. He was having a good time with her here and now and that was that. Of course, the fun was only getting started. Once they were well and truly soaked, Naruka grabbed a bottle of shampoo/conditioner, opened it and grabbed one of Gaara's hands. She squirted some in his hand before squirting some in her own hand and rubbing them together. Then, she started washing his hair.

"Oh my god…" Gaara moaned.

"Everything all right, honey?" asked Naruka.

"Everything is _fantastic_! Please, keep doing that to me!"

Naruka giggled. "Sure thing!"

As per Gaara's request, Naruka kept running her fingers through his hair. She got her own surprise when he returned the favor. As his fingers ran through her hair, she moaned as well, causing him to shake a little. Nevertheless, both parties did their best to not mess up. Neither one did, and once they washed the shampoo out of their hair, Naruka grabbed a bottle of body wash and handed it to Gaara.

"_Well_?" Naruka gave Gaara a seductive wink.

Gaara nodded before cracking open the bottle, and once he'd squirted some for himself, he handed the bottle back to Naruka. He was about to apply the body wash to himself before she grabbed his wrist and placed his hand on her chest, causing his heart rate to go up and his eyes to widen.

"You mean I can touch your BOOBS!?" said Gaara.

"Hey, don't act like you've never touched a woman's boobs before!"

"I…I haven't…"

Naruka laughed at him.

"Why are you laughing at me?" said Gaara.

"I'm sorry," said Naruka, "I'm just honored to be the first woman that a guy ever touched!"

"Oh, OK…"

With some trepidation, Gaara began washing Naruka's chest. He was surprised at how firm they were for such soft things. He was no expert on the matter, but even a guy like him could tell that she had to be a D-cup. Naruka nearly dropped the bottle of body wash out of pure bliss. The way he was rubbing them and playing with them sent a few sparks to her brain. Even so, she retained enough composure to wash his chest. Gaara smiled, knowing that he was bringing such pleasure to her and that she was returning the favor. Then, he noticed something else, and it troubled him: he was hard. He wasn't quite sure if it was because of the way she kissed him earlier, but once he took notice, it was hard to ignore. What really troubled him was that Naruka's hands were moving southwards…

"Oh Gaara…" said Naruka.

"Yes?"

"Do you like it when I rub your cock against my pussy?"

Gaara gasped. "I…!"

"Because I LOVE rubbing your cock against my pussy! Mmmm yeah, I want that inside me _so bad_!"

Naruka moaned. What she was doing to Gaara was absolutely driving him nuts. As a matter of fact, he was drooling uncontrollably at the thought of what she was going to do with him. Finally, he decided he'd had enough, pushed Naruka against the shower wall and kissed her as he attempted to enter her.

"HEY!" Naruka gently pushed Gaara away. "What are you doing!?"

"I'm sorry," said Gaara. "I couldn't contain myself…"

"Look, I understand your excitement, but don't you wanna wait 'till we hit the bedroom to do that?"

"I guess so…"

And so, the rest of their shower time proceeded in a rather awkward fashion. Even so, it didn't diminish how much they loved each other. Once they were done, they proceeded to dry off.

"Hey Gaara…"

"Yes, Naruka?"

"We gotta hug each other!"

"B-but…"

Without further question, Naruka hugged Gaara. Out of all hugs he'd ever gotten from her or any other woman, this was perhaps his favorite. He gently rubbed her back, causing her to sigh happily. Granted, there was still one problem…

"Um…Naruka?"

"What is it, babe?"

"If we keep up this hug any longer, I'm gonna…"

"You're gonna _what_? Cum? Are you gonna shoot your hot white cum all over me? Will it happen if I touch your cock again?"

"Y-yeah…I think so…"

Naruka stopped hugging Gaara. "Then let's stop fooling around! You're starting to make me so wet!"

After this, Naruka led Gaara to her bedroom and gently pushed him onto the bed. She then opened up a drawer on her nightstand.

"Look, I love you too, Gaara, but I don't wanna have your babies just yet, so…"

Naruka finally dug out what she was looking for: a condom. After tearing off the wrapping, she put the condom on Gaara and climbed over him.

"Before we go any further, I gotta ask if you're ready for it…" said Naruka.

Gaara nodded and gulped. He was sure he'd be ready, but when Naruka mounted him, he gasped.

"S-so warm and wet…" said Gaara.

Naruka began moving her hips – slowly at first, the better to savor every sensation. She never considered herself easy, but with the right man, she just wanted to let go and let her animal instincts take over…and she certainly felt Gaara was one of those men. She didn't even stop to think whether her instincts were correct; everything felt too right for her to care.

Meanwhile, Gaara was off in his own little world again. He tried to wake up, thinking that this might be another one of his wet dreams, but it wasn't. No, it was much better…and hotter, too. It was so hot for Gaara that he completely forgot that they were still in the middle of winter. Any iciness that might still have existed in his heart melted away. As that funny little song said, everything was awesome.

"Naruka…I…I'M GONNA…!"

"Yes Gaara, cum for me, babe! CUM FOR ME!"

Gaara obeyed Naruka's order and came for her…hard. In spite of having that wet dream about her last week, this release still felt sweeter than honey. Naruka relished it too as her body felt the electric rush surging through it. She kept going until neither one was at the plateau anymore. When they were both done, Naruka dismounted Gaara and rolled onto her back.

"Phew!" Naruka wiped the sweat off her brow. "I NEVER got an orgasm like THAT before! Better clean up!"

After cleaning the both of them up, Naruka cuddled with Gaara.

"Feeling better, Naruka?"

"MUCH better! I gotta give props to you for all you've done tonight! Any man with a heart like yours deserves to have mind-blowing sex!"

"Really?"

"Really!"

"Thank you so much! Actually, I gotta confess…"

"What?"

"I used to be a virgin before this."

"You were a VIRGIN!?" Naruka dropped her jaw. "Gee, I never would've guessed! You must really have needed that!"

"Yeah, I guess. Can I ask about you?"

"Oh, I've fucked a few guys before you. None of them were as cute as you, though!"

Gaara blushed again. "Thanks, I feel better about myself, too! Good night!"

"Good night, Gaara!"

Gaara took another sleeping pill before Naruka turned out the lights. If things kept going like this, Gaara figured that he was in for some really happy days.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	11. Temari

**To all my loyal followers: Thank you once again for being patient with me. I know it's been a while since I updated, but life happens. Thankfully, I got the magic back, so this story should be well on its way to completion. Enjoy!**

* * *

Gaara awoke to a strange warm and wet sensation down below. Judging by the fact that he couldn't see Naruka laying down next to him, he looked around the bed and saw what appeared to be her hiding under the covers. A slurping sound later, and it became apparent to him what she was doing: she was sucking him off. Gaara bit down, hoping to suppress any gasps, moans or any other sounds that would give away his excitement. He wasn't too concerned about the color in his face, though. He tried to relax and see how long he could last, but considering how soft Naruka's tongue was, how she wrapped it around his most sensitive parts and how deep she took him sometimes, it wasn't easy. A few funny facial expressions later, Gaara ejaculated again, and he was surprised not only at how much cum he spurted, but that he even had any left to give out after last night. In some ways, this was even better than full-on intercourse. Once Gaara was off his high, Naruka emerged from under the covers, smiling.

"Babe, your cum was TASTY!" said Naruka.

In spite of his astonishment and heavy breathing, Gaara managed a smile. "Thank you, that was superb!"

"You're so cute!"

Naruka leaned in to kiss Gaara, but he gently pushed her away.

"I love you a lot," said Gaara, "but I'm not quite ready to taste my own semen just yet."

"Oh," said Naruka. "Well, let me fix you breakfast at least!"

"Please do."

* * *

Once Naruka was dressed and got the taste of Gaara's cum out of her mouth, she cooked a huge breakfast for both of them, which included fried chicken, waffles, bacon, eggs and toast. Gaara wasted no time in helping himself. He cut into a fried chicken breast and was about to take a bite when he saw Naruka poking at some scrambled eggs while frowning.

"Is something wrong, my love?" Gaara set down his fork.

Naruka sighed. "I'm okay. It's just…"

"Am I correct in presuming that you're still troubled by your friend Sasuke?"

"Yeah...kinda. I mean, it doesn't bother me _as much_, but he was still one of the only friends I had contact with after high school, and knowing that he feels that way about me is what bothers me still."

Gaara got up from his chair and walked to Naruka. He sat down next to her and pressed his cheek against hers as he hugged her.

"I can't say that I know how it feels for you, but it's perfectly okay to feel sad," said Gaara. "Just remember that you are ultimately responsible for how you respond to such hardships."

"I know," said Naruka. "I just can't help how I'm feeling right now."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'll invite you over to my place. My sister is visiting from Colorado today and I requested the day off so I could meet her."

Naruka's eyes widened. "You have a SISTER!?"

Gaara nodded. "And a brother, too."

Naruka smiled. "Are they as cute as you?"

Gaara smiled. "Well, I'm inviting you to take a ride with me to meet her, so let's find out."

* * *

After finishing up their daily preparations, Gaara and Naruka were in Gaara's GTO heading for T.F. Green Airport. Gaara had a Judas Priest tape in, which was playing "Rocka Rolla".

"So, tell me about your sister," said Naruka. "Is she older or younger?"

"Older. As a matter of fact, I'm the youngest of the three of us."

"You're the BABY of the family!? Awww, so cute!"

Naruka rubbed the inside of Gaara's thigh again.

"Naruka, as much as I love receiving physical affection from you, I don't think now is the best time for that. Besides, my flesh is still quite weak from that blowjob you gave me."

"Don't worry, I can have it strong again in no time, babe!"

"I…" Gaara did his best to keep driving in spite of the distraction.

Soon enough, the pair reached T.F. Green Airport, named for the late Governor Theodore Francis Green. Though listed as being in Providence, the airport was actually located in the nearby city of Warwick. The parking lot seemed full, but Gaara found a spot, so once they were parked, they headed on out to the terminal. After undergoing random security checks, they waited at the gate where Gaara was expecting Temari…and waited…and waited. Gaara checked his Timex.

"What's wrong?" asked Naruka.

Gaara looked over. "My sister was supposed to be here half an hour ago. What could be taking…her…"

Gaara looked straight ahead. Standing just a few feet away was Temari, dressed in a light blue wool coat. He smiled.

"TEMARI!"

Temari ran over to Gaara. "GAARA!"

Within seconds, Temari gave Gaara a big hug. While not as soft as Naruka, Gaara nevertheless enjoyed hugging her. Temari broke away shortly thereafter.

"Say, who's this nice young lady who came with you?" asked Temari.

"Temari, this is my girlfriend Naruka. Naruka, this is Temari."

"How do you do?" said Temari. "Say, I like your boots!"

"Thank you! Nice to meet you!"

Naruka gave Temari kisses on both cheeks before kissing her on the lips. Gaara frowned and crossed his arms.

"Naruka, what was _that_ all about? Have you gone full-on lesbian?"

"No, silly!" said Naruka. "That's just how I like to greet all my lady friends! Believe it!"

"Gaara, you really should be nice to those who identify differently!" said Temari.

"It's not a question of identity, it's just a question of faithfulness," said Gaara.

"Don't worry, you're still my one and only, Gaara!" Naruka smiled.

"OK, forget my accusation. Let's get back home, shall we?"

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the proverbial ranch, not much was going on.

"I know you said that my place was nicer," said Naruka, "but this isn't bad, either!"

"Kankuro, we're home!" said Temari.

Kankuro didn't respond, so Gaara, Temari and Naruka walked to his room, where Temari knocked on the door.

"Go away, brother!" said Kankuro.

"Kankuro, it's me, Temari!"

"Sorry about that! I'm comin'!"

Kankuro opened the door and smiled when he saw Temari. Then, he gave her a big hug, which she returned.

"Good to see ya, sister!"

"You too!" Temari broke away from the hug.

"As for YOU…" Kankuro stepped towards Gaara with his fist cocked back.

"HEY!" Naruka stepped in. "Just what do you think you're doing!?"

"Wait…who's this babe?" Kankuro lowered his fist.

"Kankuro, this is my girlfriend Naruka," said Gaara. "Naruka, this is my older brother Kankuro."

"How do you do, lady?"

"Just fine!"

Naruka hugged Kankuro, who returned the gesture.

"Brother, you picked one hell of a woman!" said Kankuro.

"Well…it was more like she picked me…" said Gaara.

Naruka let go of Kankuro.

"Ya know, since she's so hot, I'm gonna forgive you for pointin' a gun at me yesterday!" said Kankuro.

"WHAT!?" Temari and Naruka turned to Gaara and gave him angry looks.

Gaara began to sweat nervously. "Look…i-it was a heat of the moment thing! I promise I won't do it again!"

"Gaara, you really should learn to control your anger!" said Temari. "What if that thing had gone off?"

"Yeah, and what if you were pointing that at _me_?" said Naruka.

Gaara clamped his hands on top of his head. "ALL RIGHT, I GET THE POINT! I'M SORRY!"

Naruka smiled. "It's all right, Gaara! Like I said, it's important to own up to your mistakes!"

Temari smiled. "There's no need to scream your lungs out! Come on, Naruka, let's show Gaara that we still love him!"

Temari and Naruka hugged Gaara at the same time, which made him smile and blush.

"Hey, what about ME!?" said Kankuro. (_Forever alone…_)

* * *

After the hugfest concluded, the four went downstairs to the living room and elected to watch a movie on the Xbox One.

"What do we wanna watch?" asked Temari.

"How about _Death Truck_?" asked Naruka.

Gaara's eyes widened. "You're a fan of the _Death Truck_ movies TOO!?"

Naruka giggled. "I've seen every one of them like a billion times! Hell, I had a _Death Truck_ marathon in one day! Believe it!"

"So I take it we're watching _Death Truck_?" said Temari.

"OK, I'll go with that!" said Kankuro.

Gaara smiled. "Let's get started, then!"

Gaara took the controller, opened up Netflix and picked _Death Truck_. Once the studio idents got out of the way, the sound effect of a CAT 3406 diesel engine firing up told the viewers that they were in for a hell of a thrill ride. Once the titular truck got rolling, it was non-stop action and suspense with some hints of drama. After the movie was over, they eagerly discussed it:

"That was pretty cheesy," said Kankuro, "but I guess I understand why you and Naruka like it."

"Come on, that wasn't so bad!" said Temari. "Sure, the plot was a little cliched, but hey, it's a movie; it' supposed to be fun!"

"Amen to that, Temari!" said Gaara.

"I dunno about you two," said Naruka, "but I wanna watch another!"

"Do we have to?" asked Kankuro.

"Hey, _Death Truck 2_ is just as awesome as – if not better than – the first! Believe it!"

"I agree with Naruka," said Gaara. "Personally, I find that the first two _Death Truck_ movies are the best."

"Enough talk! Gaara, let's start the next one!"

"Right!"

Without question, Gaara played _Death Truck 2_. Like the first movie, it was mainly action and suspense plus a bit of drama. By the time the end credits were rolling around, a strange rumbling sound was audible over "Asphalt Death", the ending theme.

"Hey, what's that noise?" asked Kankuro.

"I dunno about you folks, but I'm hungry!" said Naruka.

Gaara looked at his watch. "Yep, it's lunch time all right! Let's eat!"

"But what are we going to eat?"

"Come with me to the pantry; I'm sure you'll find something you'll like!"

* * *

And so, the Sand Siblings and Naruka headed for the kitchen/dining room. Naruka liked the smell of Kankuro's roast beef sandwich, and she loved the shrimp chowder that Temari had brought with her. There was only one problem…

"What's that you have, Gaara?" asked Naruka. "It smells kinda funny…"

"This?" Gaara smiled. "Oh, it's ox tongue! It's delicious!"

"OX TONGUE!?" Naruka dropped her jaw. "EEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! GROSS! I CAN'T BELIEVE I KISSED YOU WITH THAT SHIT IN YOUR MOUTH!"

Kankuro laughed his ass off. Temari glared at him.

"Kankuro, it's not nice to laugh at our guests!" said Temari.

"No, but it's so goddamn funny!" Kankuro kept laughing.

"Naruka, if it makes you feel any better, I brush my teeth and floss at least twice a day," said Gaara.

"Well, you better, because I am NOT kissing you until you do, you sick asshole!"

Gaara shrugged. "_What_?"

"Oh, don't even play stupid with me, boy! You know perfectly well what!"

"I'm not playing stupid."

"Well, you're playing anyhow, so take THIS!"

Naruka got up from her chair and headed for Gaara.

"DEAR GOD!"

Gaara got up from his chair and tried to run. Unfortunately for him, Naruka was upon him rather quickly and had him pinned against the counter.

"NARUKA!" cried Gaara. "AHAHAHAHAHA! PLEASE DON'T TICKLE ME!"

"Are you gonna play stupid with me anymore?" asked Naruka.

"Naruka, _enough_!" said Temari.

Naruka stopped tickling Gaara. "But it's fun!"

"As much as I enjoy seeing my little brother getting tickled, I don't enjoy seeing anybody's food getting cold. Besides, shouldn't you fix yourself something?"

Naruka snapped her right fingers. "Of course! I TOTALLY forgot! Thanks, Temari!"

"You're welcome!"

Naruka dug into her cleavage and pulled out a packet of shrimp-flavored instant ramen. Kankuro caught sight of this and dropped his jaw.

"Hey, brother, how long have ya known about your girl's thing for shoving stuff in her boobs?" asked Kankuro.

"Personally, this is news to me." Gaara turned to Naruka. "Why do you store stuff in your cleavage, anyways?"

"Why not?" said Naruka. "Nobody's gonna look there! Believe it!"

Gaara said nothing; he simply returned to his seat and continued eating.

* * *

After lunch, Temari asked an important question…

"What do we wanna do now?"

"I don't know about you guys, but I don't wanna see any more _Death Truck_ movies," said Kankuro.

"That's all right by me," said Gaara. "Besides, I was thinking that we should perhaps spend some time outside."

"How?" asked Naruka.

"Well, why don't we take a walk down to the lake? I enjoy seeing how it looks during the winter."

"OK!" Naruka gave a thumbs up.

"Count me in!" said Temari.

Kankuro shrugged. "Ah, why the heck not?"

* * *

The four of them walked down to the Ponaganset Reservoir. The water wasn't completely frozen over, but there was still a good layer of ice coating it. They took a seat on some of the rocks and stared off into the distance.

"Wow, I almost forgot how beautiful this place was!" said Temari. "Little brother, this was a good choice!"

"I'll say!" said Naruka. "Gaara, you have a knack for picking some very romantic places to hang out!"

"I try!" said Gaara.

"Well, you succeeded!"

"Yeah, I only wish I had my own woman to hang out with," said Kankuro.

"Hey, it can happen!" said Gaara.

"Easy enough for you to say. I'm the one who spends more time chatting with babes than you do, and then Blondie over here seemingly falls into your lap!"

"It's not a question of someone falling into someone else's lap; it's more about timing," said Naruka. "Not all women are ready to fall head-over-heels in love with the first person they see."

"I hear you on that one, girl," said Temari. "I had to go through a number of failed relationships before I realized that Shikamaru was the right guy for me all along."

"Christ, if I'd known this, I might not have wasted so much time with online dating," said Gaara.

Kankuro chuckled. "I know, right?"

"Don't look at it that way, you guys!" said Naruka. "Think about all the experience you gained in learning how to talk to women! I mean, you two probably have a good idea of what you should and shouldn't say to us, right?"

Gaara stroked his chin. "I suppose so…"

"Yeah, but what's the point of even saying it if they won't respond back?" said Kankuro.

"Well, sometimes you gotta break hundreds of eggs before you make the perfect omelet!" said Naruka. "Believe it!"

"Oh-kay…" Kankuro rolled his eyes.

"Trust us, Kankuro, you'll find someone like Naruka one day!" said Temari.

"Well, maybe not _like_ me," said Naruka, "but yeah, totally!"

"By the way, where did you get such a tan complexion, Naruka?"

Naruka shrugged. "I dunno. I don't use tanning booths, so maybe I was born with it!"

"Maybe it's Maybelline!" said Kankuro.

Gaara snickered.

"Actually, I don't slap on a lot of makeup," said Naruka, "just enough to make me feel like a woman."

"Girl, I am SO jealous!" said Temari.

Naruka laughed. "Yeah, you and millions of other women!"

"And so they should be!" said Gaara.

"Come here, you!"

Naruka scooched over to the rock where Gaara was sitting and hugged him. Gaara eagerly returned the embrace.

"Thanks for reminding me to hug you!" said Naruka. "I was getting cold out here!"

"You're welcome!" Gaara smiled. "Do you want to return to the house now?"

"Yeah, I don't wanna become a popsicle!"

"Hey, isn't she a little too hot to become a popsicle?" asked Kankuro.

Temari smacked Kankuro on the back of the head. "Kankuro, don't be a jerk!"

"_What_?" Kankuro rubbed the back of his head. "I'm just saying!"

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	12. Temari Part II

**A/N: Before we go any further, I'd like to give a shout-out to mm-chan! Without her undying support, the world might never have known just how wonderful a story this is! Anyways, read on! Oh, and another thing I feel that bears mentioning is this: Unless otherwise specified, all characters in this story are presumed to be at least 18 years of age or older.**

* * *

The group returned to Gaara's house.

"What now?" asked Kankuro.

Naruka reached into her cleavage again. "Who wants to play cards?"

Everyone responded affirmatively. Thus, Naruka shuffled the Iraq War "Deck of 52" she had as best as she could.

"What game are we playing?" asked Gaara.

"I dunno, how about Five-Card Draw?" replied Naruka.

"OK, I'll go with that! How about you two?"

"Count me in!" said Temari.

"Me too!" said Kankuro.

"Then let's get started!" said Naruka.

Once everyone was seated at the dining room table, Naruka dealt everyone – including herself – five cards. With the game on in earnest, everyone took a look at their hands. Within short order, Kankuro gave Naruka three of his cards in exchange for three new ones, and shortly after, Temari gave two cards. Naruka only exchanged one of her cards. Gaara was the last of the four to exchange any cards, and he gave two of his cards.

"All right, read 'em and weep!" Naruka showed her hand, which had three Jacks.

"Oh yeah?" said Temari. "Check this out!" She had three Queens.

"That's certainly impressive," said Gaara, "but I've got you all beaten!" He had four Kings.

"Yeah, well check this out!" Kankuro showed his hand, which had a Five of Hearts, Nine of Diamonds, Two of Diamonds, Ace of Hearts and Seven of Diamonds. "All red!"

"Kankuro, 'all red' doesn't count for anything in this game," said Gaara.

Kankuro gave Gaara a blank stare. "Aw crap."

"Looks like I win, then."

Temari and Naruka smiled.

Then, everyone turned in their cards and got new hands. After the exchanges went on, everyone revealed their hands. This time, Temari got a full house, Naruka got a straight flush, Gaara got three Aces, and Kankuro got junk.

"Damn it!" exclaimed Kankuro.

"Wow, I can't believe my luck!" said Naruka.

Gaara snickered.

"What?" said Naruka.

"I'm sorry," said Gaara. "It's just that you're the one who always tells me to believe it, and here you are saying that you can't believe it!"

Naruka stared at Gaara briefly, and then laughed at the irony of the whole thing.

"You're too funny, Gaara!" said Naruka.

For their next hands, Temari got four sixes, and Naruka got four sevens. Kankuro couldn't have been any happier with his…

"Check _this_ out!" Kankuro produced a straight flush.

"Not so fast, brother!" Gaara showed off a royal flush.

Kankuro growled. "All right, I've had it! Gimme all your cards!"

"Kankuro, what are you doing?" said Naruka.

Kankuro snatched all the cards from everybody as well as those that were in the pile.

"We're gonna play a new game," said Kankuro. "52 Pick-Up!"

Kankuro threw all the cards up in the air, much to Naruka's shock.

"NO! MY CARDS!" Naruka clenched her fists. "YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!"

"Kankuro, pick those cards up!" said Temari.

Kankuro sighed. "_Fine_."

Gaara got up to help.

"Gaara, sit back down!" said Temari.

"Why?" asked Gaara.

"You're not the one who threw Naruka's cards all over the place, so you're not required to pick them up."

"Very well." Gaara sat down.

Eventually, Naruka and Kankuro picked up all of the cards. Once Kankuro handed them to Naruka, she smacked him.

"Are you gonna be a poor sport again?" said Naruka.

"Ow…" Kankuro rubbed the spot where he got smacked. "No, I guess not…"

Naruka smiled. "Good, because I'd hate to think that my dear Gaara was the only good apple in the bunch!"

Gaara blushed.

"I dunno about you guys, but I wanna play a board game next," said Temari.

"OK! How about _Monopoly_?" said Gaara.

"Well, as long as I get a fair shot at beating everybody, I'm in," said Kankuro.

"All right, let's do it!" said Naruka.

"Just let me get the game board…"

Gaara went up to his room and returned with the _Lord of the Rings Trilogy Edition_ of _Monopoly_. After a few rounds of Rocks, Paper, Scissors, Gaara was chosen to be the banker. He took the token representing Aragorn, while Naruka took the token of Frodo, Temari chose Galadriel, and Kankuro picked Gimli. As a result of the initial dice rolling, the game order was determined as: Temari, Kankuro, Naruka and Gaara. On her initial roll, Temari rolled 4 and was Seen By the Palantir, resulting in her having to pay $200.

"Well, can't win 'em all, I guess!" said Temari.

"No, but I can!" Kankuro rolled 10 and was Just Visiting. He shrugged. "Better than nothin', I suppose."

"All right, let's do this!" Naruka rolled 3 and bought Farmer Maggot's property for $60. "Yeah, now that's what I'm talking about!"

"Here we go…" Gaara rolled 7 and pulled one of the "PEOPLE" cards. He turned it over. "Let's see…betrayed by Wormtongue, lose $50. Oh well."

The game continued on. It was a real battle not only of chance, but of wits. Since everyone chose to forego the oft-overlooked "Auction" rule, it was anybody's game. Then, Kankuro landed on Mount Doom, where Gaara had erected a fortress – a hotel in original _Monopoly_ parlance – and ended up owing $2,000. There was one problem: Kankuro only had $1,200. He ended up pointing a finger gun at Gaara.

"ALL RIGHT, NOBODY MOVE!" shouted Kankuro. "THIS IS A HOLDUP!"

"Brother, you can't hold up the bank just because you're low on funds," said Gaara.

"SHUT UP AND EMPTY THE SAFE!"

Gaara crossed his arms. "Quit playing around."

"I AIN'T PLAYING AROUND!"

"Yes, you are."

"NO, I AIN'T PLAYING!"

"Kankuro, if you're going to rob the bank, then I'm afraid you'll have to forfeit the game," said Temari.

Kankuro pointed his "gun" at Temari. "SHUT UP! I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU!"

"Hey, you want me to tickle this guy?" asked Naruka.

"That won't be necessary, Naruka," replied Temari. "Kankuro, are you going to play the game or are you just going to fuck around?"

"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT I'M GONNA DO!" said Kankuro. "I'M GONNA BLOW YOUR BRAINS OUT ALL OVER THE FLOOR IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP!"

Temari sighed. "All right, game's over, everybody."

Temari got up from her seat, and Gaara and Naruka followed suit.

"HEY, WHAT THE…!?" Realizing he was powerless to rob the bank, Kankuro retracted his "gun". "All right, you guys win." Then, his stomach started rumbling. "Jeez, I'm hungry!"

"All right, who wants to go to Applebee's?" asked Naruka.

"ME!" Temari and Gaara raised their hands.

"OK, I'm in," said Kankuro.

* * *

Everybody piled into Gaara's GTO and headed on down to Applebee's in Greenville, a part of the town of Smithfield. Though the decorations had changed a bit, one thing remained constant: a Space Shuttle-shaped display case with the flight suit of local astronaut Sherwood "Woody" Spring. This restaurant wasn't extremely packed at this hour, so there was no trouble involved in Gaara and co. getting a table.

"I gotta say, I'm loving this idea, Naruka!" said Temari.

"I know, right?" said Naruka.

"Well, it beats losing at card and board games, I suppose," said Kankuro.

Soon enough, the waitress dropped by.

"Hi, welcome to Applebee's!" said the waitress. "I'm Nadine, and I'll be your server! Can I start you off with something to drink?"

"Just an ice water with lemon," said Temari.

"Got any Mountain Dew?" asked Kankuro.

"No, we only have Coke products here," replied Nadine.

"Fine, I'll have a ginger ale, then."

"I'll have a Coke," said Naruka.

"Same," said Gaara.

Nadine left to get their drinks.

"So Gaara, tell me more about how you fell in love with Naruka," said Temari.

Gaara stroked his chin. "Gee, I'm not even sure where to begin…"

"Just begin anywhere, babe!" said Naruka.

"Well, I was only mildly interested in dating at first, but then some guy I knew at work – who, I might add, no longer works there – asked me if I had a girlfriend, so I made the mistake of saying no, and he began pestering me about losing my virginity. How he knew about that is beyond me. Regardless, I decided that maybe this could be a good thing for me, so I set up my first online dating account on OKCupid. Unfortunately, I pretty much got nowhere with that, but I kept trying. I even set up a few accounts elsewhere, but I got dismal results with those, too. Then, just when I'd given up all hope, I met her while shopping at Dino's. Well…actually, I'd seen her at Planet Fitness the day before, but I lacked the desire to talk with her that day."

Naruka put a hand on Gaara's shoulder. "Gaara, I wouldn't have been offended if you talked to me that day."

Gaara sighed. "I know. It's just…well…I was really gambling on some other woman, plus I wasn't sure if you were going to shoot me down like everybody else."

"Come on! One rejection's not the end of the world, is it?"

"Maybe not, but when you keep getting shot down over and over, it can get very discouraging, you know?"

"I understand. Still, I'm glad you kept up with it!"

Gaara smiled. "Me too."

"You know, I'm amazed by your persistence!" said Temari.

"Yeah, now if only my persistence would get me somewhere, then I'd be in great shape," said Kankuro.

"Just keep at it, brother!" said Gaara.

"Yeah, like Gaara said, it can happen!" said Temari.

Kankuro crossed his arms. "I should hope so, because I'd hate to be at that age where I need those blue pills by the time it happens."

Nobody said anything regarding Kankuro's latest comment. By this time, Nadine returned with their drinks.

"Are you all set to order?" asked Nadine.

"I'll have the shrimp wonton stir fry," said Temari.

"Get me a whisky bacon burger," said Kankuro.

"I'll have the chicken tenders platter," said Naruka.

"And I'll have a full rack of double-glazed baby back ribs," said Gaara.

Nadine left to put in their order.

"So Gaara, last I heard, you were working at Michael's," said Temari. "You still there?"

Gaara crossed his arms. "Unfortunately, yes."

"You really seem to hate it, huh?"

"Sometimes, 'hate' doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about that job."

"Why?"

"Well, all I'm going to say is that I hold a fair number of the customers in contempt."

"Hey, if you're having that problem, you can call on me!" said Kankuro. "I'll take care of 'em for ya!"

"Kankuro!" Temari turned back to Gaara. "I can definitely sympathize with you. When I had that call center job, I practically lost count of all the jerks I had to put up with. You know what kept me going, though?"

"What?" asked Gaara.

"Thinking about how I was helping people. The satisfaction I got from listening to people's problems and getting them to remain calm under stress definitely helped me to think about the jerks less, if not forget about them."

Gaara nodded. "I get what you're getting at, Temari, but given all the shit I've been through, it's kind of easy for me to be thrown off when somebody stomps on glue packages, for example."

"And this is something that actually happened to you?"

"Yes, and I was so mad that I could've kicked the ass of whoever did it."

"Have you ever considered counseling or therapy?"

"The last time I tried that, I hardly got anywhere. Besides…" Gaara smiled, "…I consider Naruka to be the best therapy I've ever had."

Naruka giggled. "You're too kind, Gaara!" She gave him a peck on the cheek.

Kankuro simply rolled his eyes.

"I understand you love Naruka very much," said Temari, "but I don't think it would be very wise to lean on her that much. Besides, what if the relationship turned sour for some reason?"

Gaara crossed his arms and adopted a mocking tone. "I understand you love Naruka very much, but I don't think it would be very wise to lean on her that much." He shifted back to his normal tone. "Hey sister, put a cork in your nose!"

Kankuro chuckled, while Temari frowned.

"Hey, if you're gonna be like that whenever I try to help you, then maybe it's you who can put a cork in his nose!" said Temari.

At this point, Nadine returned with their food.

"So, shall we join hands in prayer?" asked Gaara.

Everyone responded affirmatively, so they all locked hands with each other and bowed their heads.

"Dear God, thank you for providing us with the ingredients to make this meal possible," said Gaara. "May they return to the earth, to be born once again. And thank you for bringing us together as companions, that we may create happy memories with each other for the time we are together. Amen."

Everyone let go, lifted their heads up, and then began eating. So far, everyone was pleased with what they'd ordered. Then, Naruka elbowed Gaara.

"Hey Gaara…"

"Yes?" Gaara put down the bone he'd picked clean.

"Can I please try a couple of your ribs?"

Gaara averted his gaze. "Gee…I don't know…"

Naruka pouted. "Come on! It's just a couple of ribs!"

"I know…but…it's just…don't you already have plenty of your own food?"

"I do, but yours looks _so good_!"

"They are, but…"

At this point, Naruka got tears in her eyes. "You wouldn't wanna see me _cry_ again, would you?"

Gaara's gaze was drawn back to Naruka, after which he shifted it to Temari and Kankuro, both of whom had temporarily stopped eating and were giving him disapproving looks. Gaara then turned back to Naruka and formed a crooked smile on his face.

"N-no, of course not," said Gaara. "Please, have a couple!"

Naruka stopped tearing up and smiled. "Great!" She then proceeded to tear a couple of ribs from Gaara's plate and took a bite. "Mmmm…these are really good!"

* * *

Eventually, it came time for the group to pay.

"Let me take care of this!" Naruka whipped out her black card and put it in the little book with the check before handing it back to Nadine.

"I gotta say, you're very courageous handing that off to a complete stranger," said Gaara. "I for one feel more comfortable paying with cash at a restaurant like this."

"Hey, not everybody's out to steal your credit card number!" said Naruka. "Sometimes, you gotta have some faith in people! Believe it!"

"Yeah, Gaara, the world's not such a scary place!" said Temari. "Sure, bad things happen, but I'm convinced there's more good than bad!"

Gaara stroked his chin. "You know, I think you two might just be right. Still, I'd like to keep my head up at least some of the time."

Kankuro pointed his thumb at Gaara. "Not to mention you can't exactly have your head down when you're an MMA fighter."

"Oh yeah, speaking of that, how's that going?" asked Temari. "I know I asked before, but I figured I'd ask again, just for chuckles."

"Oh, it's going just _great_! Yeah, I'm well on my way to the octagon!"

Gaara shot Kankuro a disbelieving glare.

Nadine returned with Naruka's card and a receipt to sign. Naruka gladly signed it and handed it off, after which they all headed on out.

* * *

Naruka elected to stay at Gaara's house for the night. Here, there was some discussion as to what everybody wanted to do next.

"It's getting rather late, actually," said Gaara. "Why don't we all wash up and go to bed?"

"Good idea," said Temari.

"Yeah," said Kankuro.

"OK," said Naruka.

And so, everybody took a shower, brushed their teeth, flossed, and got into their pajamas. Actually, Gaara and Naruka elected to sleep naked again. Before the two went to bed, Naruka decided to talk for a bit:

"Your family is awesome!" said Naruka. "Granted, Kankuro's a bit of a jerk, but you're all fun to hang out with!"

"Yeah, it's always fun when Temari comes to visit," said Gaara. "By the way, there was something else I wanted to talk with you about…"

"Yes?"

Gaara frowned. "Naruka, this isn't easy for me to say, but…the day before we met at Dino's, I…I…"

"What is it?"

"…I wanted to kill myself."

Naruka gasped. "Gaara, why would you want to kill yourself!?"

"It was a few things, actually. Not only did I get rejected for another job, but I also got rejected by another woman on an online dating site. That, plus the sense that I was getting nowhere in life, made me feel like it wasn't worth living anymore."

"But of course it's worth living! Here, let me make it worth some more to you!"

Naruka hugged Gaara, and he returned the gesture. She felt no less soft than the first time he'd embraced her, but somehow, he felt more comforted by her touch than ever. As his frown turned into a smile, he forgot all about wanting to kill himself and instead thought about how he wanted to be with Naruka. Naruka wanted to be with Gaara just as much. Having not been exposed to a lot of – if any – people who wanted to kill themselves, she found the whole thing somewhat difficult to process. Nevertheless, she understood the sentiment, and she felt very good not only about herself, but about both of them for doing this. Soon enough, they let go of each other.

"If you need my love and support, just let me know and I'll be glad to give it to you any time!" Naruka smiled and grabbed Gaara's crotch.

Gaara blushed and gently pushed Naruka's hand away. "As much as I'd like to make love to you again, we'd better not do it here."

Naruka frowned. "Oh? And why not?"

"Well, it seemed like we were pretty immodest with our…noise last night."

Naruka stroked her chin. "On second thought…you're right. Still, I can give GREAT emotional support."

"Thanks! That means so much to me!"

"And so it should! Have a good night!"

"You too!"

Naruka kissed Gaara and snuggled up to him before he took his sleeping pill and turned out the light. Another day, another round of fun.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	13. Showing Her Around

Once again, Gaara awoke to feel Naruka's lips on his cheeks, and once again, he couldn't help but smile.

"Forget Folger's," said Gaara. "You're the best part of waking up!"

Naruka giggled. "How long did it take you to come up with that one?"

"Less than a second, that's for sure!"

Naruka giggled again. "You're so funny!"

"Come on, let's get dressed and have breakfast!"

* * *

When Gaara and Naruka headed down to the dining room, they found that Temari and Kankuro were already awake. Furthermore, Temari had already cooked breakfast: bacon, eggs and pancakes, plus coffee. Gaara and Naruka sat down and served themselves.

"So, have you two lovebirds got anything special planned for today?" asked Temari.

"Not really," said Naruka. "I just thought I'd go home and chill. But hey, I like it that way sometimes! Believe it!"

"I'm with Naruka," said Gaara. "Aside from work and maybe hanging out with her, my slate is clean."

"Sometimes, I'm jealous of you, brother," said Kankuro.

"How so?"

"I wish I had a clean slate sometimes, but with my MMA training, that's not always possible."

Gaara shot a disbelieving look at Kankuro, and then continued eating.

* * *

By the time everybody had freshened up, Gaara was in his work clothes. He and Naruka hopped into his GTO and headed off to her house.

"All right, see you after work, babe!" Naruka gave Gaara another kiss before he drove on down to his workplace.

* * *

Today, Gaara couldn't have cared less about what went on at the store. Naruka had given him the best time of his life, and combined with the fact that Temari was visiting, he was going to have a good day regardless. Matsuri even took notice of his newly-brightened disposition:

"Wow, Gaara, you seem so vivid today! Wanna talk about it?"

"Matsuri, words can't begin to describe how much I love Naruka! I couldn't have asked for a finer woman!"

Matsuri's expression turned oddly serious.

"What?" Gaara kept smiling.

"Gaara, am I correct in assuming that you two…you know…?"

"Why yes, we did!"

Matsuri's smile returned. "Ohmigosh, I am so HAPPY for you! Come here!"

Matsuri gave Gaara a big hug, which he gladly returned. If he enjoyed his life before, it was nothing compared to what he was feeling at this moment. As a result of her touch, he completely forgot about everything that troubled him before. She may not have been as soft and cuddly as Naruka, but Matsuri's touch was still very welcoming to Gaara. Eventually the two let go.

"I just want to say one other thing to you…" said Matsuri.

"Yes?"

"As happy as I am for you, don't forget that sex is only one part of having a relationship. Women have other wants and needs too, you know."

Gaara nodded. "Of course. I would never be so blind as to ignore Naruka's wants and needs."

"I believe you. I just want to make sure you treat her right, you know?"

"Speaking of treating right, I have a question…"

"What is it?"

"Have you ever given your boyfriend a blowjob in the morning?"

"No. Why?"

"I highly recommend trying it! I'm pretty sure he'll really love you for it!"

"You really think so?"

"Hey, it's worth a shot!"

"Speaking of shots, a bunch of us are going over to the Pawtucket Patriot tonight at 9:00 and doing karaoke. Wanna come with us?"

"Can I bring Naruka with me?"

"Sure, I don't see why not!"

Gaara gave a thumbs up. "Then I'm all in!"

"Awesome sauce!"

* * *

Nothing notable happened for the rest of Gaara's workday. On the way to Naruka's house, he listened to his favorite Diamond Head tape. He was still humming "The Prince" when he knocked on her front door. Having failed to get a response, he opened the door anyways and took his shoes off, only to discover Naruka sitting on the couch in the fetal position, frowning.

"Naruka, is there something wrong?"

"Oh no, not really," said Naruka. "It's just that I'm sad and I wanna cry, but I can't!"

"Did something happen to make you feel this way?"

"I dunno, it just happened."

"Well, however it happened, please allow me to help."

"How are you gonna do that?"

"I want to play this song for you; it's really special to me…"

"OK…"

Gaara got out his phone and connected it to Naruka's hi-fi. Within seconds, the room was filled with the sound of "Sun of Jamaica" by the Goombay Dance Band. Gaara then hugged Naruka and let the music and lyrics wash over them both like the waves of the ocean. During the song, a funny thing happened: the sadness in Naruka's heart melted away like ice under the warm Jamaican sun, and a smile returned to her face. She even ended up returning the hug that Gaara gave to her. When the song was over, Naruka turned to face Gaara.

"Thank you, that was really sweet of you!" said Naruka. "Any reason why you chose that song?"

"I uh…well…like I said, that song is really special to me," replied Gaara. "It reminds me of a trip that I took to Jamaica with my father when I was younger. It was the only time he ever told me he loved me."

Another not-so-funny thing happened: having recalled a particularly sensitive memory, Gaara just couldn't help but tear up. He tried to keep a smile on his face, but emotion won over, and he ended up crying.

"Gaara…!"

Seeing how much pain Gaara was in, Naruka just couldn't help but hug him. Naturally, he returned it. While crying, a part of him wondered if this was what she felt when Sasuke got into that fight with her. It sure felt like it, given how deep he had to dig for this sort of pain. In spite of the pain, he was feeling lighter and lighter as time went on. Naruka got a particular sort of satisfaction from comforting Gaara. There was just something about a man crying that made her want to squeeze him so tightly. Regular hugs were something, but this was something else. It took a while for Gaara to go down to mere sobs, but he eventually made it to that point. Even after he stopped crying, Naruka continued to hold on to him and didn't let go until he did.

"Feeling better, babe?" asked Naruka.

"Yes, but…"

"But what?"

"I just feel so horrible about crying."

"Why?"

"It just makes me feel like a weakling."

Naruka put a hand on Gaara's shoulder. "Gaara, there's nothing weak about crying! It's a normal human emotion! Believe it!"

"Really?"

Naruka smiled. "Really!"

Gaara smiled, too. "Thanks! You know, aside from Temari, you've been the closest thing I've had to a mother!"

Naruka lost her smile. "Wait…are you saying your mommy's dead?"

Gaara lost his, too. "Unfortunately, yes. She died giving birth to me."

Naruka gasped. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Here, let me give you another hug! Hell, let me give you all the hugs in the world!"

Naruka gave Gaara a big hug, which he returned. Having cried a ton already, Gaara didn't really have any more tears to shed. He was more focused on how soft Naruka was and how much he enjoyed being with her. Both of these restored the smile on his face, which remained when she let go of him.

"Is there anything else that Mommy can do for you?" asked Naruka.

"Actually, some of my work friends were going to the Pawtucket Patriot at 9:00 PM for karaoke," replied Gaara. "Would you like to come along?"

Naruka smiled. "Ohmigosh, I'd LOVE to come along!"

"Excellent! Let's go!"

* * *

Once Naruka had re-done some of her makeup, she and Gaara headed down to the Pawtucket Patriot Bar & Grill, located on India Street in Pawtucket. The interior was fairly typical for a bar, having a couple of pool tables, some TVs, Patriots and Red Sox banners. Karaoke had yet to get on in earnest, it being 8:30 PM. Gaara scanned the place, looking for any signs of Matsuri or his other co-workers. Having failed to spot anybody, Gaara shrugged and took the nearest empty table with Naruka.

"So, when are your friends supposed to arrive?" asked Naruka.

"They didn't give me an exact time frame," replied Gaara. "All I know is that…"

"Hey Gaara!"

Gaara and Naruka turned and saw Matsuri standing by their table.

"Ah, hello Matsuri!" said Gaara.

"Hey, who's this?" asked Matsuri.

"Matsuri, this is my girlfriend Naruka. Naruka, this is my friend-slash-coworker Matsuri."

"How do you do?" Matsuri extended a hand to Naruka.

"Just fine!" Naruka got up and ended up kissing Matsuri on both cheeks and on the lips before giving her a hug. Matsuri was short enough such that her head ended up getting pressed against Naruka's chest, which caused Matsuri to blush. Then, they let go of each other.

"Gaara, is your girlfriend bi or something?" asked Matsuri.

"Not to my knowledge," replied Gaara.

"Of course I'm bi!" said Naruka. "That has pretty much nothing to do with the fact that I like to greet ladies by kissing them, though."

"Oh…OK…" Matsuri smiled and rubbed the back of her head.

Everyone sat down.

"Naruka, it doesn't matter to me what you identify as," said Gaara. "You could bring another woman home and I wouldn't be offended. All I care about is getting your love and support."

"Really!?" said Naruka. "Awww…that's so sweet!" She hugged Gaara and pressed her cheek against his.

"Wow, you're awfully forgiving, Gaara!" said Matsuri.

"Well, as the old saying goes, you have to know when to hold them and know when to fold them," said Gaara.

"Hey everyone!"

Gaara and co. turned to see who had addressed them. It was a black-haired lady of average build, who was a couple of inches taller than Matsuri.

"Hi, Sarah!" said Gaara and Matsuri.

Sarah Morrison took a seat next to Matsuri. "Hey Gaara, who's this woman?"

"Sarah, this is my girlfriend Naruka," replied Gaara. "Naruka, this is Sarah, one of my co-workers."

"Pleased to meet you!" Again, Naruka introduced herself with kisses and a hug, which also elicited a blush from Sarah.

"OK, I have NEVER been greeted by being kissed before," said Sarah.

Gaara gave a nervous smile. "She does this with every woman, apparently."

"Believe it!" said Naruka.

"Oh-kay," said Sarah.

"Hey, sorry if we're running a little late!" said a fat redhead who was accompanied by a brunette of somewhat average build.

"No Melissa, you and Teri are good!" said Matsuri.

"So who's the blonde?" asked Teri Fitzgerald, the brunette.

"I'm Naruka Uzumaki, Gaara's girlfriend!"

Once again, Naruka wasted no time in greeting Melissa Bachman and Teri in her own special way.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that," said Melissa, "but that was really gay."

"I dunno, I actually kinda liked that!" said Teri.

Gaara was blushing. "Don't mind Naruka! Apparently, she really loves people!"

"Very perceptive, babe!" said Naruka.

Melissa and Teri said nothing else before seating themselves at the table adjacent to Gaara's. Naruka sat down as well.

"Say, how long until karaoke?" asked Naruka.

Matsuri looked at her phone. "It's 8:49 now, so it shouldn't be too much longer."

"What's up, everybody?" asked a skinny blonde.

"Not much, Eve," said Matsuri. "We're just waiting for karaoke to start."

"And who invited that woman along?" Eve Thornton pointed at Naruka.

"I did," said Gaara. "Naruka is my girlfriend. Naruka, this is Eve."

"Hey there!" Naruka greeted Eve in the usual fashion.

"Uh Gaara…are you sure this woman's your girlfriend?" asked Eve.

"Yeah," said Gaara. "Why?"

"I mean, wouldn't a guy be concerned about his girlfriend kissing other girls?"

"Don't worry about it!" said Naruka. "In my book, it's perfectly okay for ladies to greet each other with kisses! Believe it!"

Eve shrugged. "Whatever." She took her seat with Melissa and Teri.

"So Naruka, tell me, where are you from?" asked Matsuri.

"Originally, I'm from Boston," replied Naruka.

"Boston? My boyfriend and I have been there a few times. We really loved the Museum of Science!"

"Yeah, it's something else!"

"So why did you move out to Rhode Island?" asked Sarah.

"As much fun as the city was, I just couldn't take living there much longer," replied Naruka. "I needed to get somewhere where it was quieter."

"And where did you end up moving to?"

"I moved to Glocester."

"Glocester?" Sarah turned to Gaara. "Isn't that where you live, Gaara?"

"Yep." Gaara nodded.

"Why there?" asked Sarah.

Suddenly, another brunette burst through the door as if she were about to announce that the flood waters were rising.

"Hey, none of you ladies would be getting the party started without me, would ya?" asked the brunette.

"Of course not, Amy!" said Matsuri.

"If I'm correct, Gaara probably brought that mystery blonde along, no?"

"How did you know?" asked Gaara.

"Just my own intuition," said Amy Turner. "Besides, it's not like you to hang out with us that often."

Gaara smiled. "Well, maybe I had a change of heart!"

Amy turned to Naruka. "So, what's your name?"

"The name's Naruka, Naruka Uzumaki!" Naruka got up from her seat and greeted Amy as she would any other woman.

Amy giggled. "That was the best greeting I ever got! Can ya do that again?"

"Sure thing!" Naruka kissed and hugged Amy again.

By the time Amy took her seat, karaoke was just about ready. Before Gaara and co. could try their hand at it, they had to sit through an older man mangling ABBA's "Dancing Queen". Gaara compared the cacophony to a diesel locomotive getting shoved in a blender. Naruka was only too ready to agree. After that mess, Melissa got the opportunity to sing "Waterfalls" by TLC and did a manageable job of it.

Gaara's turn came next, and his was perhaps one of the highlights of the evening; he elected to sing "You Sexy Thing" by Hot Chocolate. Though he'd never considered himself to have a particularly golden voice, he put every inch of his heart into the performance, and it didn't go unnoticed amongst his little cadre. Naruka especially enjoyed Gaara's singing. Even though the song had apparently been written for nobody in particular, Naruka really felt that the song was tailor-made for her. By the time the song was over, Gaara had gotten a solid round of applause.

Once Eve had done AC/DC's "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" and Matsuri had a go at "Style" by Taylor Swift, it was Naruka's turn. Her choice was "Silly Love Songs" by Paul McCartney & Wings. It was at the first word that Gaara realized that Naruka's singing voice was just as beautiful as – if not more beautiful than – her regular speaking voice. He didn't even care that she was singing a song that was originally sung primarily by a man. All he knew was that the positivity and good vibes exuded by the song had no gender. Matsuri and the rest of the ladies found Naruka's performance oddly entrancing. Because of all this, Naruka got plenty of applause when she was finished.

* * *

After Teri did a good job with Linkin Park's "Numb", everyone agreed it was time to call it a night. Gaara and Naruka headed back to the latter's house and took another shower together before heading to her bedroom.

"So Gaara," said Naruka, "that was nice of you to take me out to meet the people you work with! _Very_ nice, as a matter of fact!"

"Hey, what can I say?" said Gaara. "I'm not the type to take a beautiful girl and hide her away from the rest of the world!"

"And that's why I've got something _very special_ lined up for you, loverboy!"

"Does that explain why you've got some paper towels with you?"

"Exactly! Now, bend over and lay the upper half of your body face-first on the bed!"

Gaara did as he was told, and Naruka placed the paper towels so they were directly under his groin. Next, he heard some sort of bottle being opened.

"Naruka…might I ask what you're doing?"

"Of course!" said Naruka. "I'm about to give you _lots_ of _pleasure_! Believe it!"

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"Easy! I'm going to milk your prostate!"

"Er…I kinda know what the prostate is, but could you clarify?"

"So basically, I'm going to shove my finger up your butt and rub your prostate until you cum really hard."

Gaara blushed. "Naruka…are you sure that's even a good idea?"

"Of course I'm sure! Trust me on this one!"

"Er…OK…"

Gaara took a deep breath in and tried to relax. He took a few more, and then he felt some jelly-like substance being applied to his anus, which he presumed was lube. His presumption proved correct when he felt something gently probing at his anal cavity. After a bit of poking and prodding, he felt the object – which he presumed was Naruka's index finger – enter. This was interesting enough for Gaara, but when he felt her touch his prostate, that was when things really got interesting. He wasn't sure what to think of the new sensation yet. Nevertheless, it warranted an "ooh" from him.

"Do you like this so far?" asked Naruka.

"Please…keep going…" replied Gaara.

Naruka smiled and began massaging Gaara's prostate in a gentle circular motion. As she did, Gaara felt involuntary contractions in his sphincter and PC muscle. What proved rather disconcerting for him was that he felt as though he had to use the bathroom again, which he considered ironic since he'd relieved himself before taking a shower. Nevertheless, he kept his focus on what Naruka said would be the end result. As Naruka kept massaging his prostate, Gaara started feeling more intense contractions behind his pubic bone. Concurrent to this, he was feeling an increasing sensation of warmth in his midsection. Both of these elicited some moaning from him. Nevertheless, he still wasn't hard.

"You know, every time I think about you being naked, I just wanna give you an orgasm!" said Naruka.

"Heh heh…"

Gaara felt even more aroused by Naruka's words, but he still wasn't erect. He didn't care, though; he just wanted more of whatever he was experiencing at the moment. He got his wish when he felt a trembling sensation radiating from his pelvic area to the rest of his body. This caused him to moan a bit more. As Naruka kept doing what she was doing, Gaara anticipated "the moment of truth" more and more. He knew he was getting closer when he finally got hard. He kept his hands still, however, and moaned as the warmth and fullness in his body just kept getting more intense. Finally, after what seemed like such a long time, Gaara hit his peak and let out a particularly loud moan as he came harder than he ever did in his life. Naruka smiled and kept massaging his prostate until he stopped cumming and went limp, after which she gently pulled her finger out.

(_Holy shit,_) thought Gaara. (_I think I just met my wife._)

As Gaara was still panting from the orgasm, Naruka cleaned Gaara up, disposed of the soiled paper towels, washed her hands and then returned to the bedroom.

"Was that good for you, honey?" asked Naruka.

"I…oh…that…that was awesome!" replied Gaara. "I don't think I ever came like that before! Is that what it feels like for you?"

Naruka giggled. "It might be! Can you get up and move around?"

"I…I'm not sure…"

Gaara attempted to push himself up, but his limbs still felt a bit like jelly. Nevertheless, he mustered up the strength to clamber into Naruka's bed and take his sleeping pill. Naruka cuddled with him afterwards.

"You're really fun, Gaara! We should bang each other more often!"

Gaara smiled. "I love you too, Naruka."

Naruka giggled. "Good night!"

Once Naruka shut off the lights, Gaara closed his eyes and tried to reflect on how much fun he had today. He hoped that the coming days would be just as fun.

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	14. Nerdy

"Hey Gaara!"

Gaara opened his eyes and sensed a distinct lack of Naruka cuddling with him. Instead, as the blobs of color came into focus, he saw her standing next to the bed, dressed in some unusual attire: an orange turtleneck sweater, a black pleated skirt, white knee-high socks with orange bands near the cuffs, and – most unusually – a pair of large, square, black horn-rimmed glasses.

"Naruka…?"

"Look at me!" Naruka threw her hands up. "I'm NERDY!"

Gaara groaned. "Naruka, I don't have time for your silly games right now."

Naruka giggled. "You're too funny, Gaara!"

"Look, just let me get my breakfast, please?"

"You got it, boy!"

* * *

After getting dressed, Gaara headed down to the dining room with Naruka, where another big breakfast awaited them. Both parties sat down and ate.

"Um," said Gaara.

Naruka giggled. "What's a matter? Cat got your tongue?"

Gaara shot a blank stare at Naruka, and then continued eating.

"Wow, you're a real chatterbox today!" said Naruka.

Gaara stopped eating. "I'm going to assume that wasn't an insult." He continued eating.

"Is something wrong, honey?"

"Well, unless you count this weird act that you're putting on, then no, nothing's wrong."

Naruka smiled and dropped her jaw. "Oh, I get it now! You're not used to having a sexy-ass nerd like me, are you?"

"I never said that."

Naruka put down her fork, got up, walked to Gaara and rested her head on his shoulder as she hugged him from behind.

"Are you used to it now?" asked Naruka.

"Um…I guess…" Gaara tried to put on a smile, which wasn't particularly hard considering how soft and cuddly she was. He still found the whole "nerd" thing rather hard to process, but he wasn't going to deliberately upset her by trying to tell her to stop.

"Good!"

* * *

After freshening up and dressing for work, Gaara was on his way out the door when Naruka put a hand on his shoulder. He turned around.

"Yes…?" said Gaara.

"Hey, I just wanted to let you know that when you get back, we're gonna get so NERDY!" said Naruka.

Gaara blushed. "Er…OK…"

Without question, Naruka pulled Gaara in and kissed him. Gaara just couldn't help but wrap his arms around her. This time proved especially heavenly for him because he liked the feel of her sweater. Eventually, Naruka let go.

"Well, good luck!" Naruka waved goodbye.

"Thank you." Gaara headed on out the door.

* * *

At work, Gaara did what was asked of him, but he felt weird about doing it. This even carried over to his break time.

"Gaara, why are you just staring at the wall?" asked Matsuri. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong," replied Gaara. "I'm just a bit worried about Naruka."

"Why, did you two hit a snag in your relationship?"

"Not really. See, here's the thing: Naruka is an energetic woman, so much so that she often wakes up before I do. Anyways, she must've been feeling especially energetic today, because when I woke up, she was standing next to the bed dressed like a nerd. She even said…" Gaara did his best Naruka impression. "…look at me! I'm NERDY!"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, I'm having as much trouble comprehending it as you are."

"It's not that I'm having trouble comprehending it, it's just very interesting to me."

"Do explain."

"Well, your girlfriend may be expressing a side of herself that she usually never shows to anyone."

"Yeah, maybe it is. Still, it's very new to me, and I'm not sure what to make of it." Gaara stroked his chin.

"But isn't part of a relationship about new things?"

"Well, considering you've had your boyfriend longer than I've had Naruka, I guess you're right. Oh, and before I get back to work, I must ask you…"

"What?"

Gaara leaned in closer so he didn't have to speak as loud for this next part. "Have you ever given your boyfriend a prostate massage?"

"Er…no. What's that?"

Gaara looked around to make sure nobody else was listening. "So basically, you apply a generous amount of lube to your index finger, stick your finger up his butt and gently massage his prostate – which is about the size of a walnut – until he has a really powerful orgasm."

Matsuri dropped her jaw. "Gaara, are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not."

"Hey, I'm all for sexual liberation, but sticking my finger up somebody else's butt just sounds gross."

"If it helps, you can use a glove."

"Even so, it still sounds weird."

"Hey, it was only a suggestion. I just wanted to spice up your love life."

Matsuri giggled. "You may be a complete weirdo, but you're a sweetheart!"

"Awww…thank you!" Gaara got up and hugged Matsuri, and she returned it. At this point, Gaara felt better about his relationship with Naruka. He then let go.

"If you'll excuse me," said Gaara, "I must check something…"

Gaara pulled out his smartphone and went on Indeed again, hoping to find another way out of the hell he was in. He found a rather intriguing posting from the Rhode Island Department of Administration: a 911 telecommunicator, which, in essence, was similar to a dispatcher. Still wanting something to do with Criminal Justice, he tried to apply, only to find that the link took him to the same posting on an external site. Nevertheless, he signed up for an account on said site using a throwaway E-mail account that he used for this purpose, filled out what he could as truthfully as he could and then sent in the application in. Gaara smiled at the prospect of getting out of his current job.

* * *

When Gaara got back to Naruka's house, he knocked on the front door with his head up, not caring as much about his girlfriend's recent spate of nerdiness. Naruka answered the door and hugged Gaara, who was only too happy to return it. Then, Gaara got another idea: he let one of his hands travel downwards, up Naruka's skirt, and then grabbed her butt. Naruka's eyes widened, and she blushed at his touch.

"GAARA!" Naruka let go and gently shoved Gaara.

"I apologize if I offended you," said Gaara. "I just couldn't resist the temptation."

Naruka smiled. "Oh no, that's perfectly OK! As a matter of fact, I'd kinda been waiting for you to do something like that!"

Gaara blushed. "Really?"

"Really!"

"Oh…OK."

"So, care to tell your nerdy mama why you're feeling so frisky?"

"You know, I've been thinking: maybe you're just expressing yourself in a way I've never been exposed to. Truth be told, I actually think you look rather sexy with glasses on."

Naruka smiled. "Gaara, you're the biggest sweetheart I've ever had the fortune to know! If you keep this up, maybe we could play 'Hot Librarian' together!"

"That sounds lovely, but I'm hungry."

"Fortunately for you, I'm in the process of cooking something that'll really knock your socks off!"

Gaara smiled. "Do tell me more."

"Well, come on in; you're running up my heating bill!"

Gaara took off his shoes and entered Naruka's house. Eventually, she had supper ready.

"More ramen?" queried Gaara.

"Not just any ramen!" said Naruka. "It's this new beef-and-shrimp ramen recipe that I found out after you went to work! Believe it!"

"Hmmm…" Gaara took a spoonful of the new stuff and tried it out. After only a couple of bites, his eyes widened. "WOW!"

"So you like my new recipe?"

"I LOVE IT!"

Gaara got up from his seat and walked over to Naruka, whereupon he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. Of course, she was only too happy to return the gesture.

"Wow, you're especially enthusiastic today!" said Naruka.

"Actually, I'm just paying you back for all the kindness you showered on me for bringing you ramen," said Gaara.

"Awww…thank you! That makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!"

"And that's _exactly_ how you should feel!"

Naruka giggled and gave Gaara a gentle slap. "Get back to your food! It's gonna get cold!"

Gaara got back to his seat and continued eating his ramen. By the time he was finished, he'd noticed a small package next to his bowl that said "Pocky".

Gaara pointed to the Pocky. "What's this?"

"That? Oh, those are our special nerd treats!" replied Naruka.

"But _what_ is it?"

"They're basically chocolate-dipped wafer sticks. Try 'em!"

Without hesitation, Gaara opened up the package, opened up the little bag inside the package and had a stick. He nodded and smiled after the first few bites.

"These are tasty!" said Gaara.

"Glad you like 'em!" said Naruka. "You can save a few for later, too!"

"OK." Gaara closed up his pack after he'd eaten a few sticks. Then, Naruka got up from her seat.

"I know it's probably something nerdy," said Gaara, "but I must ask what you're doing."

"You'll see!"

Naruka went up to her room and came back down while Gaara was humming "It's Electric". She was holding a small wooden box of some sort, which she set down on the table and opened.

"So, we're going to play what is probably my favorite nerdy game of all time," said Naruka. "_Magic: The Gathering_!"

"I've never played it before," said Gaara.

"It sounds hard at first, but once you get into it, it's really fun! Believe it!"

"OK, so how do you play?"

Naruka grabbed the deck, shuffled it thoroughly and gave half to Gaara, and half to herself. She also took two 2-digit counters and set them both to 40, again giving one to Gaara and one to herself.

"First, you draw seven cards from your 'library' pile," said Naruka.

Gaara did as he was told. He looked at his cards thoroughly, which included a couple of "land" cards, plus assorted creatures and artifacts. One card in particular intrigued him: a creature called "Stuffy Doll". He decided he was going to use it when he could, mainly due to its ability to reflect any damage done by his opponent back at them and its sheer indestructibility.

"These here are the life counters." Naruka pointed to the 2-digit counters. "When yours falls to 0, you lose. You can also lose if you're forced to draw a card from your library and there are no more cards."

"So how do we determine who goes first?" asked Gaara.

Naruka handed a red 20-sided die to Gaara, taking an orange one for herself. "Roll the die. Whoever gets the higher number gets to go first."

"OK."

Both parties rolled their dice. Gaara rolled a 20, while Naruka rolled a 15, meaning the former got to go first.

"What do I do now?" asked Gaara.

"So basically, since you don't have any permanents now, you skip the part where you tap them," said Naruka. "Also, if you have any 'land' cards, you can play one, but only one per turn."

As per Naruka's instruction, Gaara played a Plains card.

"OK, good," said Naruka. "Oh, and I'd like to add one more thing…"

"What?"

"Winner gets to do whatever they want to the loser!"

Gaara gulped. "You mean…even sex stuff?"

Naruka smiled. "Yes, even that!"

Gaara blushed. Though the idea was nice, he wasn't sure he could submit to another prostate massage from Naruka. The first one was earth-shaking enough, so he could only imagine this one would be almost as – if not just as – mind-blowing. Then again, he figured that if he could play Stuffy Doll and play it right, then maybe he could blow her mind in his own way.

"OK, I accept your challenge."

Gaara smiled and extended his hand to Naruka, who gladly shook it.

"Now what?" asked Gaara.

"Well, since this is only the beginning of the game, odds are you don't have enough mana to play any creature or artifact cards," said Naruka, "and since you got to go first, you might as well just pass."

"OK."

After this, Naruka played a Swamp card, drew another card and declared her turn over. In the meantime, Gaara drew another card, a Cloudchaser Kestrel, and then elected to bide his time and play another land, this time a Mountain, hoping to be able to play Stuffy Doll eventually. After he'd passed, the game became its own battle of wits. At this point, Naruka took notice of the lack of non-land cards on Gaara's side of the battlefield.

"Gaara, if I may be so bold as to make a suggestion, why don't you play a creature card or something?" said Naruka.

"OK, but why are you trying to help me?" asked Gaara.

"The way I see it, I believe in giving beginners an equal shot at besting their master!"

Gaara shrugged. "Fair enough, I suppose."

Gaara looked through his hand to see what he could play. Just as a precautionary measure, he played a Plains card. Satisfied with his mana, he chose a creature called Serra Avenger and placed it face-up on the battlefield.

"Now what?" asked Gaara.

"Well, now you tap the land cards required by that card, like this…" Naruka reached across the table and turned the required land cards sideways.

"And then…?"

"Unfortunately for you, all creatures enter the battlefield with what's called 'summoning sickness', so you can't attack with it or use certain abilities until your next turn. You can, however, block with it."

Gaara nodded. "OK."

After drawing another two cards, Gaara passed to Naruka. She played a Forest card, and then summoned a Pendelhaven Elder to the battlefield in addition to a Thunder Totem. Gaara got a bit of anxiety at seeing Naruka build her army up, but was nevertheless confident that he could eventually play his trump card. In the meantime, he put down an Island card and played his Cloudchaser Kestrel in addition to a Cavalry Master and the Gaze of Justice before declaring his turn over. Naruka then played a Plains card, and then played Jhoira's Timebug.

"Hmmm…let's see…" Naruka stroked her chin. "I think I'm going to pass for now."

Gaara nodded. "Fair enough."

Gaara played a Swamp card. Seeing that he now had five land cards, he smiled, knowing that he could finally do it. Without hesitation, he tapped them and summoned Stuffy Doll. Naruka dropped her jaw when she saw it.

"Oh my, I'd almost forgotten about _that_ one!" said Naruka. "I take it we're playing hardball now?"

Gaara smiled. "If you wish to call it that."

"All right, bucko! You asked for it!"

And so, Naruka laid down an Island card, and the game really got fun. She elected to throw whatever she had at Gaara. No matter how much the sparks flew, though, Gaara kept blocking with Stuffy Doll and reflecting all of the damage done back at Naruka. In the end, the student taught the master.

"Well, that was fun!" said Gaara. "We should do that again!"

Naruka frowned and crossed her arms. "Sure, it was fun for YOU! If you hadn't played that fucking doll, I woulda beaten you for sure!"

"Don't be such a sourpuss, _babe_! My prize is going to be _very fun_ for you, too! But first, I must ask…"

"What?"

"You're not on your…uh…'time of the month', are you?"

"No. Why?"

"Then drop your panties…_nerd_."

Naruka smiled. "OK!"

Without hesitation, Naruka stood up and dropped her lacy black panties that she was wearing.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to pay you back for all of the fun you've had with me!" said Gaara.

Naruka blushed. She wasn't 100 percent sure about what Gaara was going to do next, but when he got down on his knees in front of her, she knew. After taking a deep breath and exhaling, Gaara lifted up Naruka's skirt, and then he got on with it…

He began eating her out.

Initially, Gaara wasn't sure what to make of the taste. It tasted sweet, with some saltiness, but it also tasted a little like…a penny? Regardless, he didn't find it all that objectionable, and hearing Naruka sigh contentedly from it encouraged him to do it even more. Gaara's main problem was that he'd only read about how to do it, so actually doing it gave him anxiety about whether he'd hit all the right spots with Naruka. Nevertheless, he loved her, and he was willing to explore her until he found the magic touch.

"Y-yeah…" said Naruka. "Right _there_."

Having found Naruka's little pleasure button, Gaara worked it with his tongue, slowly at first because he didn't want to ruin the experience for her. She nevertheless moaned and felt quite tingly from his tongue, and she was breathing more heavily.

"F-fuck me, Gaara!" said Naruka. "Fuck me with your tongue! Faster!"

Gaara obeyed Naruka's command and increased the speed at which his tongue went. He found himself getting hard knowing how hot the whole thing was, but he decided to refrain from pleasing himself. Meanwhile, Naruka moaned more loudly as she got the sensation of Gaara's tongue running through her body, even if that wasn't actually the case. She also enjoyed how her nipples got hard as well. As a matter of fact, she enjoyed being eaten out so much that she put her hands on Gaara's head and grabbed his hair as if she were trying to avoid getting sent into the stratosphere from the oncoming orgasm. Gaara didn't mind, and he actually enjoyed it because he could feel the muscle contractions in her body from what he was doing to her. Hearing her moan louder and more frequently was candy to his ears as well, and it encouraged him to keep doing whatever he was doing. Finally, Naruka ended up feeling such intense waves of pleasure that she didn't know what else to do with herself but scream with delight. For her, this was definitely better than having Gaara's penis inside of her. As for Gaara, he kept going, not knowing when to stop except when her moaning subsided. As she came down off her high, he slowly let his tongue off of her. Then, he stood up and smiled.

"_Well_…?" said Gaara.

"OH…MY…GOD!" Naruka was still panting from what he'd done. "You can eat PUSSY!"

"Hey, I tried!"

"And you succeeded!" Naruka managed to muster up the strength to get to her feet. "I love you so much!"

Naruka gave Gaara the biggest and best hug she could manage. Naturally, Gaara returned it with a smile on his face. Knowing that they both won at making each other happy was a real cherry on the sundae for him, and he was sure that she was thinking the same thing. After what seemed like an eternity, they let go.

"Naruka, do you have any mouthwash?" asked Gaara.

Naruka frowned. "Gaara, are you telling me you didn't like how I tasted?"

Gaara smiled. "Oh no, Naruka, I LOVE how you taste, and I wish we could do that more often! My only issue is that I don't want other people smelling it on me, you know?"

Naruka smiled. "I understand! It's in the cabinet above the sink!"

"Great!" Gaara gave a thumbs up, went to the bathroom and used the mouthwash to get Naruka's juices out of his mouth. After he returned downstairs, he saw Naruka sitting on her couch.

"What do you want to do now?" asked Gaara.

"Since we still have some time to be nerdy, I figured we could watch _Nabari no Ou_ together!" replied Naruka.

Ignoring the past trauma connected with that show, Gaara smiled. "Let's do it!"

Without question, Gaara sat down next to Naruka and wrapped his arm around her. She did the same and rested her head on his shoulder as they watched the first couple episodes of _Nabari no Ou_. When that was done, they took a shower and freshened up together before going to bed.

"Hey Naruka…"

"Yes?"

"Has anyone told you how soft and cuddly you are?"

Naruka chuckled. "Yeah, I've gotten that one before! Hearing it from you really means a lot! Believe it!"

"And did I mention I love having your boobs press against me when we cuddle?"

Naruka chuckled some more. "Awww…thank you! You're fun to cuddle with, too!"

"You're welcome! Have a good night!"

"You too!"

Gaara took his sleeping pill, and Naruka shut off the lights. Even if this day was an unexpected surprise for Gaara, it nevertheless turned into a pleasant one. How could things possibly go wrong from here?

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	15. I Tried So Hard, And Got So Far

"Naruka…!"

Gaara snapped awake when he realized that not only was Naruka giving him head, but she was massaging his prostate at the same time. He knew it was useless to try to resist at this point. Both acts in and of themselves were pleasurable to him, but in conjunction, they were pretty much poised to fry his brain from the sheer overload of pleasure. When Gaara came, he came really hard, so much so that he feared that his testicles might be permanently broken. However, he felt that the sheer waves of pleasure he experienced in getting off would be worth it. Then, Naruka emerged from under the covers.

"N-Naruka…are y-you…trying…to…stop m-me…from…b-being able…to…go…t-to work?"

"No, silly!" replied Naruka. "I'm just paying you back double for being so damn good at eating pussy! Believe it!"

"O-OK…"

"Come downstairs! You wouldn't want to miss out on another delicious breakfast, would you?"

* * *

After mustering up the strength to get out of bed, Gaara headed downstairs and had another breakfast courtesy of Naruka.

"So Naruka, I just wanted to thank you," said Gaara.

"For what?" asked Naruka.

"For being the most beautiful, sexiest and kindest woman I've ever had the fortune to meet."

Naruka blushed. "Gaara, stop it!"

"Why? It's the truth!"

"Come on! You're too sweet!"

"No really! You've got such a great body, a good head to top it off, two of the most beautiful blue eyes that I've ever had the fortune to look at, a…Naruka?"

Naruka got up from her chair and walked over to Gaara. Not wanting to disappoint her, he stood up and accepted the big hug and kiss that she gave to him. He reflected on how he'd been such a poor, unloved man only a couple of weeks ago and had now ended up having a bunch of his wildest fantasies come true, and in spite of being drained, he got hard again. Similarly, Naruka got wet from kissing Gaara. Recognizing that he eventually had to go to work, she let go after a minute.

"You know, if I hadn't drained your balls earlier, I would have pushed you against the table and fucked your brains out!" said Naruka.

Gaara blushed. "Wow, you must really love sex!"

"If there's anything I like as much as or even more than ramen, it's sex! Believe it!"

Gaara smiled. "Well, as long as you're doing it because you want to, that makes me happy!"

"And so you should be! By the way, I've been meaning to ask you…"

"Yes?"

"How come you have no eyebrows?"

Gaara stroked his chin. "That's a very good question. I really don't have an answer for that one, but sometimes, I would tell people that I lost them in a blowtorch accident."

Naruka laughed. "Good one! Seriously, though, you look cuter without them!"

Without saying anything further, Gaara grabbed Naruka and kissed her again. Naruka took delight in having Gaara's strong arms wrapped around her. When they broke away, both of them had big smiles on their faces.

"If you'll excuse me," said Gaara, "I must prepare for another work day."

* * *

After he got ready for work, Gaara headed on out the door.

"Gaara, wait!"

Gaara turned around and saw Naruka running towards him.

"What is it, Naruka?"

"I wanted to confess something…" said Naruka.

"You're not a full-on lesbian who's been faking her love for me, are you?"

Naruka chuckled. "No, it's not that!"

"Then what is it?"

"The day we met, after I got home, I fingered myself while thinking about you."

Gaara dropped his jaw. He'd heard the saying "at least one girl has fingered herself thinking about you" before, but knowing that it was the truth for him was mind-blowing. Soon enough, though, a smile formed on his face.

"Naruka, that…that makes me feel so much better about myself! Come here!"

Naruka obeyed Gaara and got another big hug from him. As much as she enjoyed hugging people, she also enjoyed the fact that her kindness was being paid in full.

"Actually, while we're at it," said Gaara, "I had a wet dream about you the night after you met me at my workplace."

"No way!"

"Yes way!"

"Well, considering the effect I have on the object of my desire, I guess I'm not too surprised." Naruka let go. "Now fly free! You wouldn't want to be late for work because of me, would you?"

"Considering how much I hate this job, I wouldn't mind if you were the reason I was late, but on the other hand, I do get docked; it never fails."

Naruka laughed. "Bye!"

"See you later!"

* * *

At work, Gaara couldn't be happier. He had a beautiful girlfriend to go home to, there was a better job potentially awaiting him, and his boss was off his case. Naturally, Matsuri took notice.

"Wow Gaara, you're a beacon of happiness today!" said Matsuri. "Did you and Naruka have fun last night?"

"Like you wouldn't believe!" replied Gaara.

"So tell me about it!"

"Well, not only did we get to play _Magic: The Gathering_, but guess what else?"

"What?"

Gaara leaned in a little closer. "I ate her pussy."

Matsuri dropped her jaw. "I didn't know you were into that!"

"Hey, if you were my girlfriend, I'd eat yours as well."

Matsuri blushed. "Oh…thank you. That's really…kind."

Gaara ignored the faux pas he made and smiled. "You're welcome!"

* * *

On the way back to Naruka's house, Gaara was rocking out to an Iron Maiden tape as if nothing in the world could possibly go wrong. So far, all was well. Then, while he was listening to "The Trooper", he caught sight of something unusual: in Naruka's driveway, there was a Zodiac Blue 1972 Cadillac Coupe De Ville. He saw Naruka on her porch with the owner of the car, a man with black hair. Then, as he got closer to the house, he got a most unwelcome sight: Naruka kissed the man. Gaara gasped and nearly slammed on the brakes as he vehemently tried to deny the possibility that she was cheating on him. Instead, he pulled into the driveway of a house a bit further down and waited for the Caddy's owner to drive away. When he did, Gaara backed out of the other house's driveway and drove down to Naruka's house. By this time, she'd gone inside, so once Gaara killed his GTO's engine and headed onto the porch, he rang the doorbell and crossed his arms as he waited for her to answer the door. Within seconds, she did.

"Oh hey, Gaara!" said Naruka. "Why the long face?"

"We have to talk."

"Come on in!"

Reluctantly, Gaara stepped into Naruka's house, and she closed the door behind him.

"So, what's on your mind?" asked Naruka.

Gaara stood firm. "For one, I'm getting the strange feeling that you haven't been entirely faithful to me, and no, I'm not referring to your habit of kissing other women."

"Gaara, what are you talking about?"

"Don't play stupid with me. I saw what you did just a few minutes ago with that guy driving the Cadillac."

"Oh, you mean Sasuke?" Naruka smiled. "Yeah, he apologized for hurting my feelings last week. We're all good now!"

"So apparently, making up now means making _out_?"

Naruka lost her smile. "Gaara, it's not like that!"

"Then what IS it like?"

"Wouldn't you kiss your best friend too if you'd patched things up after a horrible fight?"

"No Naruka, unfaithfulness does NOT answer my question."

"But I wasn't being unfaithful!"

"LIAR!"

"I swear, I'm not lying!"

"And HOW can I be so sure of this?"

"Doesn't 'my word is my bond' mean anything to you?"

"Well, at this point, it seems to mean less to me than eating your pussy."

Naruka crossed her arms. "Oh, so we're gonna play THOSE games now, huh?"

"Hey, you're the one playing games, not me!"

"Oh, stick a banana in your ear!"

"Stick THIS!"

Out of the blue, Gaara smacked Naruka across the face. While physically unhurt, she was badly shaken up, as evidenced by the loud gasp she let out.

"Oh, you did NOT just hit me!" said Naruka.

"What of it?" said Gaara.

"What of it!? WHAT OF IT!? I'LL GIVE YOU WHAT OF IT!"

Naruka lunged at Gaara, tackled him to the ground and started beating his face in. Gaara did his best to block the blows, but wasn't always successful. Finally, when Naruka felt that Gaara had gotten what was due to him, she dragged him to the front door and tossed him onto the ground in front of the porch.

"AND DON'T EVER COME BACK HERE AGAIN!" Huffing and puffing, Naruka stomped back into the house and slammed the door behind her.

Meanwhile, Gaara staggered back to his feet and dragged himself over to his GTO. He drove back home, hoping that Naruka hadn't broken anything.

* * *

Gaara managed to avoid having any accidents in spite of how badly he'd been beaten. After getting out of his car, he entered the house and saw Kankuro and Temari sitting on the couch, talking. Both of them took notice.

"Gaara!" exclaimed Temari. "Oh my god!"

"What happened, brother?" asked Kankuro.

"Leave me alone," said Gaara. "I _don't_ want to talk about it."

Temari and Kankuro looked at each other and shrugged.

Meanwhile, Gaara headed for the bathroom and locked himself in. He didn't feel as though anything had been broken, but he was bruised and visibly bleeding. First, he took some cotton balls and rubbing alcohol, soaked a cotton ball in the rubbing alcohol and applied it to any spots where he felt the blood might be coming from. Naturally, the wounds stung, but he didn't wince that much. At this juncture, the fact that Naruka had broken up with him hurt much worse than any physical ailments. Once Gaara had disinfected the wounds and wiped off as much blood as he could, he applied bandages to his wounds and retired to his room. Considering the magnitude of what had happened, he was in no mood to do anything except cry and take his sleeping pill. If there was anything that consoled him, it was the fact that he had enough sense to keep the bottle at his house in case of something like this.

That night, he had a weird dream: he'd gotten out of his GTO and headed into Naruka's house. In the dining room, he found Naruka sitting down at the table, facing away from him.

"Naruka?"

Naruka said nothing to him.

"Naruka?"

Naruka remained silent.

"Hey Naruka, I-I'm sorry about what happened earlier…"

Still nothing from Naruka.

"Look, if you're still mad at me, I understand. I just want to let you know that I made a horrible mistake and I still love you very much."

Again, nothing.

"Please, don't hold this against me..."

This time, Gaara put a hand on Naruka's shoulder. She spun around to face him, with tears in her eyes.

"You wouldn't wanna see me _cry_ again, would you?" said Naruka.

Gaara gasped when Naruka tried to guilt trip him this way. It spooked him so much that he fled the house, got back in his GTO and drove away. While on the way to his house, he thought he saw Matsuri walking on the side of the road, so he pulled over and got out.

"Matsuri, you've got to help me!" said Gaara. "Naruka's going to get me!"

Matsuri turned to face Gaara, but her face was that of Naruka's, and she too had tears in her eyes.

"You wouldn't wanna see me _cry_ again, would you?" said Matsuri, who also had Naruka's voice.

Once again, Gaara gasped out of abject horror, got back in his car and peeled out as he sped back to his house. After killing the engine, he ran into the house, slammed the door behind him and pressed his back against the door, breathing heavily, hoping that Naruka or Matsuri wouldn't manage to break in. After calming himself, Gaara walked to the dining room and saw Kankuro and Temari sitting down at the table. The one thing that aroused his suspicion was that both of them were facing away from him.

"Brother, sister, I've got a problem, and I was wondering if you could help me," said Gaara.

Kankuro and Temari turned around, and it became apparent that neither one could help him because they too had Naruka's face and had tears in their eyes.

"You wouldn't wanna see me _cry_ again, would you?" said Kankuro and Temari, who also shared Naruka's voice.

Gaara gasped yet again and ran upstairs to the bathroom. Having lost faith in everything, he grabbed the sides of the sink, leaned against it and hung his head. After catching his breath, he splashed his face with some cold water, and when he finally got the courage, he lifted his head up, and he wished he hadn't, for when he stared in the mirror, he now had Naruka's face.

"You wouldn't wanna see me _cry_ again, would you?"

Just then, Gaara sprang upright and let out a particularly loud gasp as he woke up. Breathing heavily and sweating, he was still horrified by the dream, but relieved to be out of it. Even so, one problem remained…

"I've got to get her back…"

* * *

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


	16. The Fight

After waking up, Gaara staggered out of bed and lazed his way downstairs, where Kankuro and Temari were eating breakfast. He took a seat at the table and put the minimum amount of food on his plate that he felt was necessary to sustain himself.

"Little brother, you usually take more food than that," said Temari.

Gaara glared at Temari. "So?"

"Hey, I'm just trying to show my concern!"

"Why don't you take your concern and shove it up your pretty little ass?"

"Go ahead, keep talking to me like that! See how much further you get in life!"

"Hmph." Gaara nibbled away at his breakfast.

* * *

Having reluctantly freshened up for work, Gaara drove down there and ended up putting in the bare minimum that was considered acceptable to get through the day. He tried to keep his head up as much as he could, but considering Matsuri's keen intuition, putting on such a front proved to be no use.

"Gaara, you don't seem to be yourself today," said Matsuri. "What's wrong?"

Gaara sighed. "As long as I can trust you, I'll tell you."

"OK."

"Matsuri…I blew it."

"Blew what?"

"I was on my way to Naruka's place yesterday after work, and I saw her kiss a guy that she claimed was a friend. I got so angry at her that I slapped her, we got into a fight and she broke up with me."

Matsuri dropped her jaw. "Gaara, you didn't!"

"Didn't what?"

"Come on! I understand you're not happy with her, but you _don't_ hit a woman for that!"

"Look, I'm sad enough that we broke up, and being reminded of how horrible a person I am is not helping at all. All I want to do is make things right somehow."

"Then why don't you meet with her again and apologize to her?"

"I would, but she specifically told me not to come back again."

"Well, you never know. Even if she is still hurting from the fight, she might have cooled down just enough that maybe she'll listen to you."

Gaara gave Matsuri a blank stare. "Maybe you're right. I don't want to disrespect Naruka's wishes, but I really want to get her back. She means _a lot_ to me."

"I know you really love her, but I've been through my fair share of breakups, and there have been a couple of guys I really wish I still could have been with. As it is, I just hope you're prepared to move on from her if you can't get back together."

"Matsuri, you don't understand. I had to fight tooth and nail until I got someone like her, and now I may never have anybody like that ever again."

"I know it hurts. Just remember, I'm always here for you, and I'll do what I can to help out. You're my friend, after all."

Gaara tried to keep himself together, but he found himself moved by Matsuri's words so much that he felt the need to cry. He walked over to her and buried his face in her shoulder as he hugged her. She was only too happy to return the gesture.

"It's OK, Gaara. There's nothing wrong with crying. Just let it out."

Gaara obeyed Matsuri and let out as much of his sadness as he possibly could. Even though the future wasn't set, he was feeling much better about it, and particularly about his ability to win Naruka back. By the time they let go of each other, Gaara's smile had returned.

"Matsuri…"

"Yes?"

"You're beautiful."

Matsuri smiled. "Awww…thanks!"

* * *

The rest of the workday was uneventful for Gaara, but he had to do his best to prevent himself from crying. Mainly, he did this by trying to concentrate on what he was going to say to Naruka, which gave him pretty bad anxiety, but he figured as long as he put on that cool, strong front he'd put on for so many years, he'd be fine. Once he got out and headed out on the road, he put on one of his favorite Metallica tapes to keep cool. By the time the tape was on "Fade to Black", he had made it to Naruka's house. As he proceeded to her front door, he kept replaying the scenario in his mind, hoping that things would play out in his favor. With heaviness in his heart, he rang the doorbell and nervously waited for Naruka to come to the door. Soon enough, she did, and unfortunately for Gaara, the moment she made eye contact with him, she didn't say a word as she attempted to close the door.

"Naruka, WAIT!"

Gaara tried to force the door open, and Naruka tried to push him back.

"What the fuck do you want, Gaara?"

"Look, I'm really sorry about yesterday," said Gaara, "and I feel bad about what I did to you!"

Naruka stopped trying to force the door shut. "Oh YEAH!? You know, if you really felt bad, you wouldn't have smacked me in the first place!"

Gaara clasped his hands together. "I know hitting you was wrong, but please, give me a second chance!"

Naruka crossed her arms. "And why should I give an asshole like YOU a second chance?"

"Because you still mean the world to me and because I fear I may never find anybody who can compare to you ever again!"

"Is that so? I'm _sure_ there are PLENTY of fish in the sea who would make just as good a catch as me!"

"No, you don't understand! I…"

"Oh, I understand, all right! I understand that you're the kind of person who can't be handled at his worst, and because of that, you don't deserve me at my best!"

Gaara could feel the sadness welling up within him, but held himself together. "Please, listen to me! It's OK if you're still mad at me, but I hope you and I can come to some sort of understanding!"

"Rot in Hell, Gaara!"

Finally, Gaara felt as though he was out of options. He didn't want to resort to this, but it was either this or lose Naruka forever. Thus, he let the tears flow.

"You wouldn't let a nice young man like _me_ rot in _Hell_, would you?"

Naruka looked into Gaara's teary, pupil-less eyes. She still didn't want much to do with him, but she could sense that he was sincere about wanting her back and atoning for his mistake. Seeing him do this caused her to raise her eyebrows.

"Gaara…do I really mean that much to you?"

"Yes…"

Finally, Naruka gave a weak smile. "Well, if it means your happiness, I guess I'll give you a second chance."

"Oh, THANK YOU!"

Gaara stopped crying and attempted to hug Naruka, but she stretched her hand out and stopped him.

"Not so fast, loverboy!"

"Huh?" Gaara lowered his arms.

"There is one condition…"

"Name it."

"You have to fight me."

Gaara's eyes widened. "Wha…?"

"You heard me: if you fight me and win, we'll get back together."

"I heard you, but don't you understand the inherent irony in fighting to make up for hitting you?"

Naruka lost her smile and crossed her arms again. "Do you want me back or not?"

Gaara sighed. "I accept. Just let me get my gym clothes from my car, OK?"

Naruka loosened her stance and smiled. "OK!"

* * *

Gaara and Naruka changed into their gym clothes. For Gaara, this meant his shorts minus a shirt, and for Naruka, this meant a sports bra and shorts in addition to tying her hair into a ponytail. Naruka led Gaara down to her basement, which was quite clean and well-furnished for such a place. There was a space with a gym mat on it, and they both removed their shoes and socks before stepping on the mat. They walked to the center of the mat.

"OK, there's only two rules," said Naruka, "but pay attention anyways: 1. No hitting below the belt, and 2. If you go limp, tap out or get pinned for three seconds, you lose. Other than that, it's fair game! Oh, and I should also like to mention one other thing…"

"Yes?" said Gaara.

"If you lose, I get to do whatever I want with you. Fair enough?"

Gaara smiled. "You're on!"

"Grand!"

Gaara and Naruka shook hands before bowing to each other. Then, they got into fighting stances, and it was on. Having hit Naruka once before, Gaara was nervous about hitting her again, even if it was for sport, and it showed as Naruka sent a couple of jabs his way with her left fist. He did his best to block her, but then she sent a right hook his way and connected with the side of his head.

"OW!" exclaimed Gaara.

"What's a matter?" Naruka smiled. "Are you some kind of wuss or what?"

"'Wuss'? I'll give you 'wuss'!"

Somewhat enraged, Gaara sent a few jabs at Naruka before attempting to get in a good, solid punch of his own. Unfortunately, she managed to dodge it. He took aim again, only for her to dodge that one as well. He sent a flurry of punches her way, but no matter how hard he tried, she always dodged them.

"DAMN IT!" exclaimed Gaara. "Stop dodging!"

"Uh uh uh!" said Naruka. "Everything else is fair game, remember?"

Gaara gritted his teeth and kept sending punches her way. He received a rather hard kick from Naruka to his belly, but he wasn't about to let that stop him. Rather, he let his rage build and sent punch after punch her way, hoping that at least one wouldn't be blocked or dodged.

"For Christ's sake!" exclaimed Gaara. "I said stop DODGING!"

Finally, after being consumed with so much rage, Gaara let a mighty right hook fly and managed to connect with Naruka's jaw. The blow sent her reeling a little and stunned her for a bit, but she remained on her feet. Much to Gaara's surprise, she began crying.

"W-why would you even hit a WOMAN!?" said Naruka. "You're a HORRIBLE person!"

Gaara relaxed his stance and put his palms outwards. "N-Naruka, I-I'm sorry! I thought we were…"

"PSYCH!"

Naruka stopped crying and got her smile back as she punched Gaara square in the face. At this point, Gaara had to try to not be surprised at how hard she could hit. Granted, it took him a couple of seconds to recover from the blow, but he did it, and he managed to block another few punches that Naruka had lined up for him. However, this meant that he left himself wide open for a roundhouse kick that she had lined up as well. This nearly knocked the wind out of Gaara, but he recovered from it swiftly enough and prepared to send another few blows Naruka's way. However, she closed in on him and let loose with her own flurry of punches. He did his best to block them all, but wasn't always successful. He tried to end it by kneeing her in the belly, which worked decently enough, but he got stuck in the same rut of having to contend with her dodging his punches.

One roundhouse kick later, and Naruka took the advantage and sent a vicious uppercut to Gaara, stunning him just long enough for her to put him in a headlock and beat his head in. By now, Gaara could feel his strength beginning to ebb, but he used what he could and flipped Naruka down onto the mat. He closed in and attempted to pin her, but she got up too quickly for that. Instead, she charged at him and clotheslined him, knocking him to the ground. Though his strength was still fading, Gaara retained enough of it to get up and just barely avoid being pinned. He tried to punch Naruka again, but she grabbed him and kept kneeing him in the belly before throwing him down on the ground.

"C-come on…" said Gaara. "G-get up…"

Gaara tried to use whatever strength he could to clamber back to his feet. However, Naruka ended up pinning him.

"One…two…THREE!" Naruka held her fist up in triumph. "YAY! I WIN!" Then, she got an evil smirk on her face. "And now to claim my prize!"

"Naruka…OH NO! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA TICKLES!"

"Yes, that's right! I get to TICKLE you!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! WHY!?"

"Because it's fun, silly!"

"MAYBE FOR YOU! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Don't deny it! You want to be tickled, don't you?"

"NO! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Look at how red your face is! You must really want some more!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA! STAHP!"

"No no no! I'm only getting started!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ALL RIGHT, I ADMIT DEFEAT!"

"Wait…did you say 'defeat'? Oh, that reminds me…"

"Uh oh…"

Keeping Gaara pinned, Naruka turned around.

"Naruka, I didn't mean…AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Oh, but I think you DID want me to tickle your feet!"

"NO NO NO! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Your mouth keeps saying 'no', but the fact that you're laughing tells me 'yes'!"

"PLEASE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Since you're being so polite, I'm going to tickle those cute little toes of yours!"

"OH MY! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Hold on, I gotta find your ticklish spot!"

"Oh my god!" Gaara gulped and braced for it.

"Hmmm…_this_ looks like a sweet spot!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STAHP STAHP STAHP!"

Gaara tried to wriggle free of Naruka's grasp. However, the fact that he was being tickled, not to mention that it was being done to him by a hot girl in a sports bra proved overwhelming for him.

"You know, you can stop this _any time_ you want!" said Naruka.

"NO MORE!" cried Gaara. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Uh uh uh! It's not THAT simple, babe!"

"AHAHAHAHAHA! STAHP! I CAN'T TAKE IT!"

"Tell you what: if you just give up and admit that I'm better than you, then I'll stop!"

"NEVER! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Come on, it's just four simple words!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Just say it: 'you're better than me'!"

"ALL RIGHT! ALL RIGHT! YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"There, that wasn't so hard, was it? Now if you'll excuse me, I just gotta have a little more fun…"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Finally, after what seemed like ages to Gaara, Naruka stopped tickling him. At this point, Gaara was huffing and puffing, trying so desperately to catch his breath. When he managed to catch his breath, he had to ask one simple question:

"Naruka…are we…together again?"

Naruka smiled. "Well, since you're so good at being tickled, I guess I'll give you a second chance anyways!"

Gaara smiled. "Oh, THANK YOU!"

"You're welcome!"

Both parties stood up.

"I know I said 'stahp' a bunch of times," said Gaara, "but really, I enjoy being tickled!"

"Really?" said Naruka. "In that case, we should try that more often!"

"Er…OK." Gaara put a smile on. "Just don't tell anyone else, got it?"

Naruka gave a thumbs up. "You got it!"

"Naruka, I hope we never get into any more fights. I mean…not like the one we just had."

"Gaara, every relationship's bound to have fights at some time or another! The important thing is that both of us are able to talk about our feelings and resolve our problems without resorting to violence! Believe it!"

Gaara stared at Naruka.

"Well…excluding the one we just had, of course!" said Naruka. "But that's different!"

"OK." Gaara smiled. "By the way…"

"Yes?"

"Has anyone told you that you look really sexy in a sports bra and shorts?"

Naruka giggled. "Come here, you!"

Though a little apprehensive about being tickled, Gaara nevertheless accepted Naruka's hug and kiss. While they had yet to attain "happily ever after", they figured that this was a good start.

* * *

**And there you have it: after several weeks of me screwing around with other projects, the ballad of Gaara and Naruka has finally come to an end. Please review the story if you'd like to let me know how I did, and stay tuned for my other projects!**

**Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.**


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